The Tenacity of Emotion
by Urborg
Summary: Ranma hits upon the wonderful idea of hanging out in a different part of the city during the day, avoiding the chaos. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, he meets a certain someone he had hoped to not see again. Edited cause of formatting oO
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer:I don't own Sailor Moon. Naoko Takeuchi does. Don't own Ranma, Rumiko Takahashi does. Probably don't own the monsters either, but I can't think if they are anywhere else off hand.  
  
Anyways, this is my first fic. Been reading fics for quite a while, but I always decide not to post something when I write it. However, I can't improve that way, so even if this isn't liked that much, CC should help it get better.  
-  
Chapter 1  
  
It was a nice, bright day in Nerima. The sun was out, the roofs were dry, and people walked to and fro, happily going about their business.  
  
Most of them, however, stopped to stare as a pigtailed martial artist jumped from rooftop to rooftop, heading out of the ward. However, this being Nerima, they weren't staring because someone was jumping on rooftops. They were staring because they couldn't believe someone thought that a cloth tied under their nose would actually disguise them.  
  
Ranma cackled to himself, then blushed and chuckled instead. "I've finally done it!" Ranma exclaimed. "I've thought of the perfect solution for avoiding all the fiancées, well except for the Tomboy." Ranma groaned as he thought that last one. However, his face erupted in a smile after a second. "I'll just hang around another part of the city! They can't glomp/mallet/spatula/poison what they can't find!" Ranma cackled, erm chuckled again.  
  
Yes, Ranma's good mood stemmed from the fact that he thought he would get some peace from the fiancées if he didn't hang around for them to find him after school. Of course, he would have to come back to the Tendo dojo at the end of the day, but with only Akane to deal with, it wouldn't be so bad, especially if he could actually claim he was too full to eat without his stomach rumbling and betraying him.  
  
Ranma checked his pocket, and pulled out 1200 yen, before putting it back. Yes indeedy, he had enough money to eat out. Ranma had started doing occasional jobs at the construction yard, his immense strength and speed useful for putting things together. Of course, he couldn't keep much of it. Nabiki had really started to go extortionist. She had left him alone ever since the picture incident, but must not have been making enough money because Nabiki had evidentially decided to use him as her cash cow.  
  
Ranma leaped off the building and landed on the ground, taking off the cloth he wore around his face. "Heh, no one knows where I've gone. I'll keep 'em guessing as long as I can." He said to himself. The people wandering around the shopping area of the Juuban district gave him a strange look. He blinked and laughed putting his hand behind his head as they hurried away from him.  
  
Of course, Ranma didn't think about the fact that 70% of Tokyo was filled with weirdness, and that just moving districts wouldn't really help him escape. From ancient perverts, young perverts chased by strange female aliens, to dog demons, moving districts probably wouldn't help him all that much.  
  
Ranma walked along the district. Now that he was here, Ranma really didn't know what to do. At least, he didn't until he noticed an ice cream shop. In a red blur, the pigtailed martial artist was gone, and already inside in line. Too late he realized he was still in his male form.  
  
"Ah hell, I'm a guy right now." He muttered to himself. He bobbed back and forth, trying to make up his mind. Finally, he threw his hands up in disgust and stayed in line. "Don't feel like hunting down some cold water. It usually finds me anyway." He rationalized.  
  
Yes, only Ranma would worry about changing genders just to eat ice cream. Ranma paid the guy at the counter, getting a small bowl of ice cream. He grumbled as he sat down and started eating it, slowly. Ranma felt he could only truly indulge ice cream while in female form, so he was just going to have to take it slow.  
  
Ranma stopped eating and stared at his small bowl. "I shoulda changed after all. This bowl would be triple in size!" He grumbled. The Saotome stomach cried out, and Ranma started eating slowly again. That is, slowly for him. Which was pretty much a normal person's fast.  
  
Outside the ice cream shop, a certain group of ninth graders by day/Pretty soldiers of justice by night were headed inwards, led by their fearless leader... um the ice cream black hole, Usagi Tsukino. The other girls would have sweat dropped at the look of total glee on Usagi's face, if not for the fact that they had seen it so many times before that it was routine whenever Usagi saw some kind of delicious food. And ice cream definitely counted as delicious. Usagi impatiently walked ahead, and was already at the counter when the other four girls entered the shop.  
  
Makoto was looking around the shop when her eyes fell on Ranma. Those familiar with her noted her reaction. Makoto's eyes widened. She started to blush. Rei and Minako slapped their hands over their faces. Makoto never failed to deliver when she noticed a cute guy.  
  
"That boy..." Makoto began.  
  
The others waited for it, while Usagi turned her head around and attempted to finish for her. "...Looks just like your old sempai?" Usagi asked.  
  
"...Is my old sempai!" Makoto exclaimed.  
  
The others nodded. It never failed. Then it registered.  
  
Rei opened her mouth. "That really is your old sempai?" She asked. Makoto wasn't listening, however, as she was already on her way over.  
  
"Sempai!" Makoto exclaimed, dashing over to where Ranma was sitting. Ranma looked up in horror.  
  
"Oh no! I had hoped she would never see me again! She probably wants to cream me for what I did!" Ranma said, panicking. He calmed down and breathed slowly. It wouldn't be any worse than what Akane did to him on a daily basis, so he could take it, especially since he kind of did deserve it.  
  
Flashback...  
  
We see a younger (Jr. High) Ranma walking side by side with a younger (but still very tall) Makoto. Makoto has a large smile on her face, while Ranma has an expression of incoming doom, like he knew he was about to fall in a gender changing spring or something (which, ironically, eventually happened.)  
  
"Look, Mako-chan, I gotta complete my training journey with pops. I'll be gone for a few years. I can't be your boyfriend anymore." Ranma said, trying to break up with her gently.  
  
Makoto's expression didn't waiver. "I'll come with you!" She exclaimed happily. "I could always use some more training."  
  
Ranma blanched. He couldn't have a girl coming along on the trip with him. It would be disastrous. Ranma frowned and sighed. He hated to use his secret weapon, but he had no choice, if Makoto was to live a good life and find some boyfriend that could always be with her.  
  
"Look, Makoto! You're a violent tomboy, and you are a way too tall girl for me! Go find someone else as a boyfriend!" He shouted, before turning and running off, his eyes closed. Behind him, Makoto's happy expression had vanished, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.  
  
End flashback...  
  
'I hated to do it, but it was really for the best,' Ranma thought to himself. 'Makoto is actually stronger than Akane, though. This is going to hurt.'  
  
To Ranma's surprise, Makoto didn't whip out a mallet and belt him into the stratosphere. She simple smiled a big, sparkling eyed smile, and sat in the chair across from him, staring into his face happily. Ranma began to feel uncomfortable, and even more so when four other girls came over with ice cream.  
  
"Sempai..." Makoto breathed as the other girls took a table next to them, their heads slightly turned, with their ears seeming to have tripled in size.  
  
Makoto was deliriously happy. 'He has to be unattached! What kind of guy eats ice cream by himself?' Makoto said to herself. Not for the last time, Ranma was wishing he had come in female form.  
  
"I'm so glad your back, Ranma!" Makoto exclaimed. Finally, she would have a steady boyfriend again, already forgetting how hard she had been burned those years ago.  
  
Ranma set aside his ice cream. There was no way he could finish it now. "Look, Makoto, what do you want?" He asked bluntly. Internally, the alarms were going off. The small, smart part of his brain was chanting, "Must not get another fiancée, must not get another fiancée, must not get another fiancée." The rest of his brain, which normally didn't listen to the smart part, decided that the smart part had had a great idea, and they were going to follow its instructions, this one time.  
  
Makoto's expression fell slightly, but her optimism when dealing with cute men who reminded her of her sempai (especially relevant since this WAS her sempai) was in full force.  
  
"Well, it doesn't look like you have a girl friend, and I don't have a boyfriend, and I haven't seen you for years. I was hoping we could go out and get something to eat, maybe go to a movie." Makoto said, smiling at him.  
  
The normally quite clueless martial artist felt a hit strike his wall of resolve, but he patched it up. Cute girls he could take, angry girls he could withstand, but cute girls with cute pleading eyes destroyed him like nothing else.  
  
"Makoto, I told you two years ago, it just won't work out between us. You should find someone else." Ranma said, getting up and leaving the store, the heartbroken (again) Makoto sitting there, staring at the spot he had vacated.  
  
Ranma actually hated being a jerk to Makoto, since she was actually a pretty sweet girl and hadn't constantly clobbered him like a certain other violent tomboy. However, Ranma had three fiancées, and adding another girl to the mix was just asking for trouble. Makoto could probably take care of herself, but if the ghoul found out, there could be problems.  
  
The other four inners stood up and moved over to Makoto's table. Usagi was almost glowing with anger. "This is the guy you keep comparing everyone too!? Your sempai is a jerk, Makoto! You should move on to someone who doesn't remind you of him!" Usagi exclaimed. Rei and Minako nodded.  
  
Makoto simply looked at her, with slightly moistened, sad eyes. "You always called Mamoru a jerk, and then you fell in love with him." Makoto said. Usagi blinked at that, since it was true.  
  
Rei shrugged. "Usagi falls in love easy, as long as there is a cute face." She said.  
  
Usagi fumed. "I don't just fall in love with cute faces!" She exclaimed, sticking her tongue out at Rei, who stuck her tongue out right back.  
  
Ami and Minako sweat dropped, while Makoto smiled. Those two were always good at lightening up the situation.  
  
Ami turned to Makoto. "Why do you still compare everyone with him if he acts like that?" Ami asked.  
  
Minako turned her head back and nodded. "Yeah! Mooning over a lost love is one thing, mooning over a jerk like that is quite another!" Minako exclaimed. So what if he was cute, cuteness didn't count for everything! Well, not more that 40% anyways.  
  
Makoto shook her head. "He wasn't like that normally. I think he just didn't want me to come, so he broke up with me." She lowered her head to the table. "But why is he still being a jerk. Did he really mean what he said back when we were going out?" Makoto asked to herself.  
  
Fortunately for Makoto, something decided to keep her mind off her old sempai. Usagi's communicator began to beep. She was forced to abandon the impromptu face-stretching contest she had begun with Rei, and checked her communicator.  
  
The face of Usagi's guardian cat, Luna, appeared in the apparent wristwatch. "Usagi, get over to the shopping mall! All the people there are engaged in a full scale brawl! I can sense evil energy!" She exclaimed. Usagi looked up. The others nodded, and together the inners left the ice cream shop. The people still in the shop wondered what caused the girls to run off in such a hurry.  
  
Ranma had left the shop in a hurry, jogging away from it, randomly moving through the city.  
  
'I can't believe she still wants to be with me, even after all that!' He thought to himself. He felt terrible that she would wait so long without finding someone else. 'But no matter how I feel, I have way too many fiancées already. Stupid pops.' Ranma thought, grumbling.  
  
Of course, with the fact that a monster was running around, the fact that Ranma wasn't really heading back home but moving around the city, and the fact that he had the "Aura of Chaos (TM)," It was really no surprise that he began to hear sounds of fighting after wandering around for 15 minutes.  
  
Ranma ran towards the sounds. He arrived in front of the Juuban shopping mall, to see a large mob of people beating on each other, while a strange, large woman with yen signs plastered all over her body floated in front of them, laughing.  
  
Ranma raised an eyebrow. Such displays really didn't faze him anymore. At least, not until he noticed the streams of ki flowing into the strange woman. His eyes bulged as the ribbons of black flowed from the people and into the monster. The people began to drop as their energy was depleted, the cause of the fighting becoming apparent.  
  
"They were fighting over a 1000 yen bill?" Ranma asked in disbelief. The monster spun at the sound of his voice.  
  
Ranma involuntarily took a step back. He wasn't afraid, but cautious, considering that the strange woman had veins of black ki pulsing through her body.  
  
"You some kinda weird martial artist with an energy draining technique?" Ranma asked, getting into a fighting stance. Ranma preferred to not hit women, but the black ki this woman possessed told him that there probably wasn't any avoiding it.  
  
"Martial Artist? How quaint." The woman said. "I am a servant associated with greed. Give up your negative energy!" The self-proclaimed servant of greed shouted, pointing her hands at Ranma.  
  
Ranma felt his ki suddenly start to twist and reshape itself. 'What the hell? I don't know of any attacks outside of shiatsu that can affect someone's ki!' Ranma thought. He focused for a second, stabilizing his ki and keeping his mind away from the greedy energy the servant of greed was trying to invoke in him.  
  
The monster was surprised. "You don't feel any greed?" She asked. "Guess I'll just have to destroy you." The woman held out her arm. Black energy collected in her hand, before launching out, and hitting the spot where Ranma had been standing.  
  
"You think I'm just gonna let you hit me?" Ranma asked rhetorically. "I've had a bad day!" Ranma began to focus on his depression, which was slightly stronger than his confidence at the time. "Eat this! Shi Shi Hokodan!" Ranma held out his hands as they begin to fill with green energy. Suddenly the energy coalesced into a large ball, and launched from his hands straight at the woman.  
  
The monster was surprised and actually a little frightened. That is, until she recognized the energy flowing off of the ball headed straight for her. She smirked and held up her hand. As the energy came in contact with it, it entered inside her body instead of blowing her backwards.  
  
The monster smirked. "Not as nourishing as greed, but any negative emotion will do." The monster said.  
  
Ranma grinned. "So you absorb negative energy do ya? Taste this then! Moko Takabisha!" He yelled out, this time launching a shining blue ball of energy at the monster. Again, the monster gauged the emotion, and intelligently decided to leap in the air instead of trying to absorb the ball.  
  
The servant of greed placed her hands forward. "Lets see how you like my yen coin barrage!" She exclaimed. Suddenly, hundreds of coins began appearing in her hands, launching in swarms at Ranma.  
  
"Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ranma yelled out, his hands beginning to move in a blur as he grabbed coins and tossed them away from him. However, after a few seconds the coins started turning black. Ranma only had time to widen his eyes before they exploded.  
  
"Ergh." Ranma said intelligently as he was knocked backwards by the force of the released energy. The barrage of coins stopped.  
  
The monster grinned down at him. "My my, you are certainly surprising." The servant help up her hands again, prepared to resume her barrage. However, she wouldn't be allowed to begin it.  
  
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" A female voice yelled out. The servant turned, just in time to be hit by a condensed ball of high-powered electricity. She convulsed, the power running through her, before her floatation failed and she collapsed to the ground. Her features seemed to change, becoming more grotesque.  
  
Ranma's eyes widened. He had assumed she was just some strange martial artist. This looked more like a demon of some kind. He turned his head, and his jaw dropped.  
Ranma saw five cute girls dressed in sailor fukus standing in the direction the lightning had come from. The tall brown haired girl had her arms held out; small bolts of electricity occasionally flowing along them.  
  
The girl with the strange dumpling headed hairstyle that Ranma could have sworn he had just seen looked like she was about to say something, but the brown haired girl turned her head and said, "Finish it, Sailor Moon!"  
  
"But... my speech?" Sailor Moon asked. Jupiter shook her head. Moon sighed and brought out the Moon Spiral Heart Rod.  
  
"What the hell is she doing?" Ranma asked the air as the one named Sailor Moon begin to spin and twirl holding up the rod.  
  
"Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" Sailor Moon cried out, her spinning stopped. The servant barely managed to stand up from the electricity that still racked her body just in time to see her doom.  
  
"Lovely!" She cried out as a MASSIVE pink heart blasted through her. Her body exploded, the black energy beginning to shift to through a myriad of colors as the energy was returned to all the people.  
  
Ranma stood, his eyes wide. "She shot her with a giant pink heart? What kinda attack is that?" Ranma asked himself incredulously.  
  
The girls all hurried over to him.  
  
"Are you all right?" The strangely dressed girl with somewhat familiar brown hair asked.  
  
"A little blast like that couldn't hurt me," Ranma boasted. He grimaced. "Much." He added. Ranma looked them over. "Who are you? Some kinda martial arts cheerleaders or something?" Ranma asked, although he didn't know any techniques for shooting lightning. Something he had to learn.  
  
The girl with the dumplings on her head brightened, and was about to say something when the brown haired girl beat her too it. "We are the Sailor Senshi. I'm Sailor Jupiter, this is Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars." Jupiter said, pointing out the girl with dumplings, a blue haired girl, a blonde haired girl with a ribbon, and a reddish black haired girl.  
  
Moon mumbled something about speeches while Ranma tilted his head. 'Haven't I heard something about some kinda Sailors that didn't have anything to do with boats?' He asked himself, and then shrugged.  
  
"Well, I gotta be going. See ya." Ranma waved before he ran off.  
  
Jupiter stared after him, while Mercury was typing something on her pocket supercomputer. After a few seconds she looked up.  
  
"He wasn't lying. That blast really didn't do much to him." Mercury said. The others spun to face her.  
  
"What? That was a big explosion of dark power! No ordinary human would be able to withstand that and be nearly unhurt." Mars said.  
  
Jupiter shook her head. "He isn't normal. He was a pretty powerful martial artist, even better than me. I guess he has improved in the two years since I last saw him." She said, head bowed.  
  
Mercury typed a few more things into the computer. "I've got a scan on him. I'll examine it and see what it says, later." She said. The others nodded, and together they left the scene as the people began to pick themselves up and ask themselves just what the hell had happened.  
  
Ranma entered Nerima the same way he had left it, by rooftop, except this time he was without the cloth tied around his face.  
  
'What the hell was that...thing they destroyed? It seemed like ki flowing through it, but I've never seen ki like that before. Maybe pops knows.' Ranma thought.  
-  
Notes: Well, there you have it. I've given it a good shot and gone over it a couple times, but I'm terrible at critiquing my own work. I'll have to find a prereader. Hopefully I've managed to stay IC. Trying my best to avoid clichés. One problem that I can think of off hand is that I might need to slow down, but it's hard :(. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Don't own Sailor Moon, as its owned by Naoko Takeuchi. Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma.  
  
Thanks for the reviews! I'll try my best to make a good story.  
Chapter 2 -  
Ranma slid open the door to the Tendo house and took his shoes off. "I'm home!" Ranma called out as he walked in, closing the door behind him.  
  
"Welcome back, Ranma." Kasumi called from the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready in about an hour."  
  
Ranma smiled to himself before calling out, "Looking forward to it, Kasumi!" Ranma turned straight for one of the places that his father could be found, almost any time of day when he wasn't scheming.  
  
Genma and Soun were doing one of the things they did most often, playing shogi. Genma was starting to sweat. Soun had him on the run, and refused to be drawn in by any of his 'ploys.'  
  
"Hey pops," Ranma called. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"  
  
Genma stood up. "Would you look at that Tendo, my boy needs me. He probably wants to talk about marrying Akane. Well gotta go!" Genma said rushing from the room.  
  
"No fair Saotome! I was just about to win!" Soun yelled, but the portly martial artist was already gone. Soun sighed. "And I was just about to decimate him." Soun said to himself, before resetting the shogi board.  
  
Genma followed Ranma to the living room, where they both sat down in chairs. "What did you want, Ranma? Finally come to your senses and decide to marry Akane?" Genma asked, hoping but knowing that it probably wasn't the reason.  
  
"I ain't gonna marry that uncute tomboy, pops!" Ranma yelled at him. After a second, he looked around in a paranoid fashion.  
  
"Akane isn't home yet, Ranma" Genma said. Ranma relaxed.  
  
"Pops, do you know of any martial artists or something that have black ki?" Ranma asked, before watching Genma seem to teleport from his chair to right in front of him.  
  
Genma grabbed onto his shoulders. "Ranma, m'boy, did you anger the Master!?" Genma exclaimed, shaking him. Ranma brought up his leg and kicked Genma back into his chair.  
  
"I haven't done anything to the old freak! At least, not lately."  
  
Genma relaxed. "Just leave the master alone. Maybe he will die of old age soon." Genma said. He then muttered, "Actually, I'll probably die of old age before he does." Realizing the folly of mentioning the ancient pervert more than three times in a minute, Genma looked around. Fortunately, Happosai didn't seem to want to materialize, so Genma breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
Ranma slapped his forehead. "Look, I don't think it had anything to do with the old freak! Just tell me what a martial artist with black ki is!" He yelled at his father.  
  
Genma activated his one use per week righteous martial artist pose, leaping from his chair and planting his feet in a wide stance, one hand pointing to the heavens. "A being of black ki is no martial artist! They are demons, usually summoned by small wrinkled perverts! Said wrinkled perverts, who tend to be the greatest of evils, summon these monstrosities that lack a true life force, in order to make life hell for their disciples! It is a martial artists duty to hunt such monsters down and destroy them, and beat up the wrinkled pervert who summoned them!" Genma cried to the heavens. Unable to maintain (rather questionable) righteousness anymore and not look like a fool, and not realizing that it was too late for that, Genma relaxed and fell back into his chair, causing it to shudder  
  
Ranma's eyes twitched at his father's antics. 'So why don't you go hunt down the wrinkled pervert then, pops?' He thought to himself. Ranma took a deep breath, and continued, "Do you know any techniques that can shoot giant pink destructive hearts?"  
  
Genma snorted. "No, and I don't think I want to. What kind of girly martial artist would shoot pink hearts at people?" Genma asked, chuckling. Again, GENMA OS hit another script error. "Ranma, you haven't developed such a technique? Oh the heaven's weep, that my son wants to shoot hearts at his enemies!" Genma cried out.  
  
Ranma leapt up over to Genma, and bashed his father's head with his fist. Ranma shook his head and spun around. "I'm going to go see the ghoul. Don't know why I bothered with you in the first place. I'm just surprised that you only mentioned Akane once." Ranma muttered.  
  
"What did you say, boy?" Genma asked him, his head still ringing.  
  
Ranma waved his hand. "Didn't say nothin'."  
  
'Maybe I shouldn't think so hard about this. But that heart technique was damn strong! Those girls don't look like martial artists. How did they do it?' Ranma thought to himself as he headed to the door.  
  
"So there is five cute girls wearing very revealing clothing, that can... is it hot in here?" Ranma stopped talking to himself and looked up. He hadn't been paying much attention to where he was walking. Ranma gulped.  
  
Akane had evidently just come in with Nabiki, who was already getting out of there. Currently, Akane's eyes had become pointed in the weaker version of the Tendo demon head, and she was glowing with a red battle aura.  
  
"Cute girls, huh. Revealing clothing, huh. You pervert!" Akane cried, crashing her foot into Ranma, blowing him outside the house. He skipped along the ground, before splashing into the koi pond. Genma and Soun's heads popped out, holding up signs that read 8.5 and 9.0 respectively.  
  
Ranma-chan sputtered as she lifted herself from the pond. "What'd you do that for!?" She yelled at Akane.  
  
Akane stared out at her. "I can't believe you!" Akane exclaimed before turning around and going up to her room. 'I was going to cook him dinner, but now he can just starve.' Akane thought to herself.  
  
For some inexplicable reason, Ranma-chan felt a surge of happiness. Ranma-chan shook off her hair and muttered, "Ain't never gonna understand her. Just isn't going to happen." Ranma shrugged and leaped out of the pond, landing on the wall and bouncing off of it, heading in the direction of the Cat Café.  
  
'I wish I knew why Mako-chan waited for me. She should have gotten some other boyfriend that didn't have a father who dragged his son everywhere. She was a martial artist, but she was rather sweet, not like Akane.' Ranma thought to herself. 'And she could cook. Man, could she ever!' Ranma began to drool at the thought of Makoto's food, but shook it off. 'I've got three fiancées already, and a psycho after me. Just wouldn't work out."  
  
Elsewhere, a certain other group involved in that days activities had gathered to find out just what was going on. Of course, that purpose lasted the whole of one minute, until Usagi managed to find Rei's new manga collection.  
  
"Usagi! How did you find those!?" Rei exclaimed to the dumpling head who was laughing at one of the manga she was reading. "I haven't even gotten time to read them yet!" Rei said, leaping onto Usagi and trying to wrest her precious manga away from her.  
  
The other three sighed and ignored the two. The same thought went through all their minds. 'Evidently, the old saying about being better friends the more you fight was true.' "What does the Mercury computer say about the enemy?" Makoto asked Ami, who was busy typing something into her computer.  
  
Sounds of crashing reached their ears but they pointedly ignored it. Ami finished typing on the computer and looked up. "Well, it appears that this monster possessed some similarities to energy draining monsters we've encountered before." Ami said. She continued, "However, it seems somewhat more limited. The computer noticed that not all of their energy had been drained, just a large quantity. So either it was interrupted, or it can only handle a specific kind of energy, that humans don't have a lot of."  
  
"So it's weaker than any of our old enemies?" Minako asked Ami. The blue haired genius shrugged.  
  
"It can't absorb energy as effectively, but that doesn't seem to make it weaker. It is certainly stronger than Beryl's youma, although I haven't been able to compare them to daimons yet."  
  
Rei snorted and gave up the fight with Usagi. When it came to manga, Usagi had an iron grip. "I think the monster can only absorb energy associated with negative emotions." Rei said.  
  
Usagi sighed and dropped the manga. Once Rei was done fighting, reading the manga just didn't have the same appeal. She sat down at the table with the others.  
  
"What do you mean, Rei?" Ami asked her.  
  
Rei looked pensive for a moment. "As part of my spiritual training, I can sense ki, or life energy. It is how I've also been able to sense evil energy. When the energy was returned to people, I noticed that it was in several colors, but all of them were associated with some kind of negative emotion. It was mostly greed, however."  
  
Makoto nodded. "That makes sense. The monster had yen signs tattooed all over its body. Money could be considered the root of greed." Makoto said. She blinked as she thought of something, and continued speaking, "Rei, when you said you could see the energy, what did it look like?" She asked Rei.  
  
"It looked like colored streams of power connecting to each of the people and disappearing into them. Why do you ask?" Rei responded.  
  
"Because I could have sworn I saw strange waves in the air as everyone started to come to. I guess I was almost seeing the energy being returned to them." Makoto said.  
  
Rei nodded. "I'm not surprised. A good enough martial artist can sense these things as well. I just have specific training to be able to sense them." She mentioned.  
  
"So what was up with that Ranma guy?" Usagi asked Ami. They turned to look at her. "I mean, you said that you would have some info on him, so spill."  
  
Ami checked her computer. "Well, I only really scanned him because I thought it strange that his energy hadn't been drained. According to my readings, he has an enormous amount of energy boiling within him. Its probably ki like Rei mentioned, but I have never seen this much energy in a single human before." Ami paused. "Well, there was that one guy who kept screaming about seeing hell, but I haven't seen him since."  
  
The others sweat dropped. Makoto sighed. "So sempai is far stronger than before, if he can survive those kind of hits by a monster."  
  
"But it could be evil energy." Minako said.  
  
Ami shook her head as she looked at the computer. "I doubt it. The energy in him didn't seem to have any negative power attached to it. It isn't how he survived the hits that I want to know about. I want to know how he was able to take 126 swings per second with his hands, effectively knocking away every single coin before it struck him." Ami said, not noticing the others' drop their jaws.  
  
"126 swings?" Usagi asked, eyes wide. Mechanically, she turned to Makoto. "Did you know about this?"  
  
Makoto's eyes had bugged out as well. "I can't believe it. I didn't think hands could move that fast." She said, awestruck.  
  
Ami looked up again and put her computer away. "Well that's all I know... what's wrong with you guys?" She asked the others, who still had bug eyes.  
  
Minako stared at her. "Ami, you don't find it weird that he can move his hands that fast."  
  
Ami shrugged. "I'm a magical girl. I've seen people throw energy around that they shouldn't have. I've seen scientific laws broken on a daily basis!" Ami said, her voice loud. The others stared at her. Ami blushed and buried her heads in her hands.  
  
"She's right. We've seen too many weird things for someone to move really fast to bother us all that much. Maybe we can ask him how he does it if we see him again." Usagi said, trying to get the attention off the embarrassed Ami. Usagi turned to Makoto. "Mako-chan, what is the real story with you and your sempai?"  
  
Makoto looked uncomfortable. "Well, I only really knew him about two months. He went to an all boy's school near the school I went to. I saw him practicing martial arts one day and asked for a spar. He was a bit condescending, but agreed. However, he spent most of the fight dodging, like he didn't take me seriously. That lasted for about a minute, before he got careless and I got a pretty good hit on him." Makoto said, her eyes misting as she recalled the incident.  
  
Minako looked shocked. "You fought him for a minute before you could even hit him?" She asked.  
  
Makoto nodded. "Yeah, and let me tell you, he was really surprised. Claimed it would never happen again. I was tired so I offered him lunch, which he really seemed to like. We started hanging out, and before you knew it, we were dating. He told me that he had been training ever since he was six years old. He talked about some of his training adventures." Makoto paused a moment in contemplation. "Oh Usagi and Minako, don't let Luna or Artemis around him. He said he had an extreme allergy to cats." Minako and Makoto nodded.  
  
"So that was it?" Rei asked. "You fought, gave him lunch, and became boyfriend and girlfriend?"  
  
Makoto blushed. "Well, he really did like food. Claimed that it was the best food he had ever had. He claimed that he lived on mostly camp food. Anyways, all was fine until he had to leave to continue his training trip. That's when he broke up with me. I thought he didn't mean it, just that he didn't want me on the trip, but now I'm not so sure. I'm afraid I got a little violent after that. Its why I got kicked out of school." Makoto finished, laying her head on the table. "I wish I knew what was really going on in that head of his."  
  
Usagi and the others looked at each other. "If we see him, we'll get to the bottom of things. And if he doesn't have a good reason well... we will punish him!" Usagi exclaimed. The other girls nodded.  
-  
Ranma-chan opened the door to the Cat Café cautiously. When either chains or a glomp didn't attack her, she stepped inside, closing the door behind him. The place was filled, people coming in to eat their dinner.  
  
Shampoo was moving around, delivering ramen bowl after ramen bowl. She was obviously just a bit too busy to deal with Ranma at the moment.  
  
"Well, Son-in-law, what brings you here?" The withered matriarch of the amazons asked from where she perched on the counter. Shampoo spun around, but a glare from Cologne had her quickly turning back.  
  
"Hey old ghoul, I got some questions for you." Ranma said as she walked up to the counter. Shampoo kept facing him, but had to keep grabbing ramen bowls that Cologne launched at her. She growled, frustrated, and kept delivering ramen.  
  
"Well son-in-law, what is it?" Cologne asked him.  
  
Ranma looked nervous. "Well, um... do you know anything about a group of girls wearing fukus that can do things like shoot lightning and giant hearts?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Getting mixed up with even more women? You are brave beyond belief, son -in -law." Cologne chuckled, before beginning to seriously ponder the question. "Sounds like the Sailor Senshi to me." She said after several moments of contemplation.  
  
"Yeah, that's what they called themselves, but what are they?" Ranma asked her.  
  
"Well I don't know all that much about them. I have occasionally seen them on the news when flipping through channels. Usually there wasn't any concrete evidence of them being around, just property damage and eyewitness accounts." Cologne said. "Shampoo, take over!" Cologne called out to her and hopped off the counter. She paused to grab a bowl of steaming water, handing it to Ranma, who poured it on herself, turning back into a man.  
  
"Yes, great grandmother!" Shampoo said, while thinking about how unfair it was that she had to mind the shop while Ranma was around.  
  
Cologne climbed the stairs into her room, Ranma following behind.  
  
"What's up, ghoul?" Ranma asked her in confusion as Cologne began to dig through a trunk of various items.  
  
"I never really thought about it all that much, but I actually think I've heard them mentioned somewhere else." Cologne said, digging through the trunk. "Aha, here it is." She said, pulling out a battered scroll. Cologne opened the scroll and began reading it to herself.  
  
Ranma waited impatiently for several minutes, before he couldn't take it anymore. "What does it say?" He asked.  
  
Cologne blinked and looked up. "Oh, sorry. Got a little carried away." Cologne said, before closing the trunk and hopping on it, the scroll still in her hands. "Well, this scroll is basically about a kingdom that existed on the moon thousands of years ago. This is probably the last mention of them existing at the moment, and as you can see, it is almost falling apart. Anyways, supposedly, a wise and benevolent queen ruled it. A group of women protected the kingdom, and bear a striking resemblance to the Sailor Senshi. Unfortunately, the elders didn't put a high priority on things such as these, that didn't deal with the betterment of the Amazons, so stories like these have mostly been lost." Cologne read a little more of the scroll. "If they have any connection with modern day Senshi, then they probably aren't using ki to attack, but something they called, 'planet power.'" Cologne finished.  
  
Ranma pondered the information for a minute. "How come I've never heard of them before?" He asked.  
  
Cologne fixed an eye on him. "Well, for one I don't think you watch TV very much, and two they are generally considered an urban legend that started around two years ago, when people had mysterious fainting spells. Why does it matter, son-in-law? They've been dealing with monsters for a few years. You really don't need to involve yourself." Cologne said.  
  
Ranma grimaced. "Well, when it comes to fighting, I just don't want to be left out, you know? What's the point of having these martial arts skills if I can't use them?" Ranma asked rhetorically. He turned with a wave. "Well, I'll be seeing you. Thanks for the help." Ranma said, leaving.  
  
With a sigh, Cologne hopped down and placed the scroll back in the trunk. Her tired eyes looked at the door Ranma had left from. "Any time, Ranma, any time." She whispered. Cologne picked up her staff and slowly walked down the stairs, eschewing her normal staff riding. There were times when she felt so old, even when compared to the 3000 years of Amazon history. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Don't own Ranma or Sailor Moon. All the characters from those series belong to their respective owners.  
  
Thanks to:Kuno-Baby, Ranger5 for prereading my fic. Figured I might as well thank em in each chapter they pre read.  
  
Now, all of you think I'm crazy because I put the Moon Kingdom as 1000 years back. I have an excuse! Really! I've watched up to S, and I don't think I've heard the actual date mentioned. So I... used the "Sailor Moon Role-playing game and resource guide." I probably shouldn't have done that, but bleh :P I'll change it to "many" instead of 1000. Be no less vague than the anime.  
  
CC and reviews are much appreciated :)  
  
Chapter 3 -  
Ranma sighed in contentment and snuggled his pillow. It was his body's reaction to sleeping, even if he wasn't aware of it. However, something began to intrude upon his sleeping form.  
  
"Ranma..." A voice seemed to call. Ranma mentally stretched, trying to listen hard. The voice sounded so familiar...  
  
"Ranma..." The voice called again. Ranma began to feel he was on the verge of learning something big. He felt that the voice was about to say something of Earth shattering importance.  
  
"Ranma... if you don't get up, your father is going to eat all your food." Kasumi's voice called out for the third time. In a flash, Ranma's eyes snapped open, and in a burst of pajama shaped blurs he was off, down the stairs like a rocket.  
  
Genma-panda had just opened his huge mouth to take a huge bite out of some of his son's food when he felt two feet planted themselves in his skull. Unable to withstand the impact and hold Ranma's weight, the panda dropped head first onto the table. Ranma leapt off his father's head, landing at the table in a kneeling position, his hands already blurring as he started to eat.  
  
No one paid Ranma, or his father and the sign that said "Ouch!", any mind. They were used to such scenes. Shortly, his food had been devoured and he shot up to his room to change.  
  
Akane checked the time. "We are going to be late if he doesn't hurry up! As much as he likes food, he is almost always the last one to start eating it!"  
  
Kasumi began to pick up the plates. "I imagine it is because he likes sleep more than food, if only a little bit." She said, carrying the plates to the kitchen to be washed.  
  
Ranma had slowed down after he arrived in his room, his brain finally ordering him around. "What the heck am I running for? It's school. I'll just sleep through most of class anyway." He said aloud. Firm in his beliefs, he changed clothes, spiting the school system by doing it at a normal persons pace. Once he was dressed, he grabbed his school bag and walked down the stairs.  
  
Akane was visibly annoyed. "Took you long enough, lets get out of here!" She exclaimed, before leaving the compound at a run.  
  
Ranma sighed and shrugged. 'I guess I might as well try to be on time after all.' Ranma thought, before he too ran out, leaping on to a fence and easily catching up to Akane.  
  
Elsewhere, an event was happening that was just as routine as Ranma's morning. Ryoga Hibiki, the eternally lost boy, was... well... lost.  
  
"Where the hell am I now?" Ryoga asked, rather than yelling like he normally did. Mainly because yelling had scared a lot of people away from him, making it rather difficult to ask for directions. Not that he could have followed them if they had stuck around, of course, but Ryoga didn't pay that any mind.  
  
Too sunk in his depression to notice, Ryoga passed the sign that said, in bright white letters, "Juuban Ward" without even noticing it. The place looked familiar to Ryoga, but then most places did. Even if he knew exactly how to get somewhere, he wouldn't make it.  
  
Ryoga snorted. "Feh, Ranma is probably in school right now with Akane. Why can't that stupid idiot realize how lucky he is? He gets to be near Akane and be in school. I couldn't even make it to school twice a week." Ryoga muttered to himself, starting to glow green.  
  
With an effort, Ryoga stopped the depression ki from leaking from his body. "I guess I'll try what I do when I get lost for a long time. Try to get anywhere besides where I'm really going. With luck, I could be at the dojo by tomorrow!" Ryoga said, cheering himself up. Ryoga's eyes focused as he looked up, noticing the street was strangely absent. "Where did everyone go?" Ryoga asked aloud, before shrugging and continuing to wander.  
  
In the shadows of an alley, a figure that seemed to be shrouded by black energy contemplated its next move.  
  
"So, the gatherer I summoned from that man wasn't strong enough to get any energy." A strange hissing voice said. "Unfortunately, I have not seen what destroyed it. I'm going to have to assume this city has extremely powerful residents."  
  
The strange energy pulsed around the figure, as it held up an appendage one could assume was an arm. The blackness shifted around the figure, and it lowered its arms, as it seemed to float through the shadows of the alley it had been in.  
  
"Spirit of darkness," The hissing voice intoned hollowly. "Find me dark energy worthy of awakening!"  
  
The black energy flickered, before a small ball ripped itself off the main mass. The ball floated high into the air, reforming itself into an arrow shape that spun around, before pointing to the east.  
  
The figure nodded its head, floating into the air and grabbing on to the arrow of energy, which began moving and pulling the blackness along. As the arrow pulled the figure out into the open, the sunlight danced around it, seeming to completely ignore the figure. The black energy bent the light, making the air distort and waver, and almost completely masking the figure.  
  
The being flew through the air rapidly dragged along by the spirit of darkness. Buildings whizzed by, until the figure began to slow.  
  
"Eh? I feel something... strange." Ryoga said, panning his gaze around. Not seeing anything, Ryoga continued on his way, at least until he heard a voice.  
  
"Perceptive, aren't you?" A voice said from behind him. Ryoga spun around. His eyes couldn't see anything, but he could feel a twisting darkness. Ryoga reached behind his back, unhooking his combat umbrella.  
  
"I sense a great power in you, which is fortunate for me." The figure said, with a vocal smirk. The light bending properties of the dark energy ceased, revealing the figure. With the light hitting its form, the figure stood somewhat revealed. A tall, gaunt man wearing clothes and a cape that glowed black, with the energy, seemingly diminished in the sunlight, wafting off of it. He had short, gray hair, and eyes that were utter darkness.  
  
Ryoga snorted. "Make that unfortunate for you. I've had a bad day... for the last month. Leave me alone." He said, holding up his umbrella.  
  
The strange man chuckled. "I think not." He said, holding up his hand. Black energy coiled inside it, before launching itself at Ryoga like a snake. Ryoga simply leapt over the blast, which ripped through the pavement.  
  
"So, you've got some weird ki technique and you think you can beat me?" Ryoga asked, before leaping at the man and swinging his umbrella. The man simply yawned and stood his ground. As his umbrella neared him, the energy around the man suddenly leapt upwards, tearing into the umbrella and ripping it to shreds.  
  
"My umbrella!" Ryoga exclaimed. The man laughed.  
  
"You are going to have to worry about more than your umbrella!" He exclaimed, still laughing. "You see... huh?" He asked.  
  
Ryoga's body had begun to glow. "That was my umbrella! My dad gave that to me one of the times we were together!" Ryoga said darkly. He growled. "Eat this! Shi Shi Hokodan!" Ryoga cried out, thrusting his palms forward. Green energy gathered swiftly, before a massive ball of power launched itself from his hands, crashing into the surprised man, bowling him over.  
  
He groaned and picked himself up. "Why couldn't we have the ability to absorb energy?" The man mumbled rhetorically. The energy surrounding him focused itself, forming into a ball of energy and launching itself at Ryoga.  
  
"Shi Shi Hokodan!" Ryoga cried again, launching a second ball. The two spheres of energy collided, boiling against each other in a maelstrom of power. Small spheres of energy ripped themselves off from the main mass, flying away, striking holes into the ground. Soon, however, the Shi Shi Hokodan was overwhelmed, the ball of darkness striking Ryoga, knocking him away and onto the ground.  
  
"I was worried for a second, but even though you have great energy, it is aligned with my energies, which gives me the upper hand." He said, chuckling.  
  
Ryoga began to get ever more depressed. "So, not only can Ranma beat me, but any old man off the streets can come up and easily destroy me. I'm a failure as a martial artist. I'm worthless." He said, his eyes downcast.  
  
The man smirked. "Yes you are. Why don't you just give... up?" He said, pausing.  
  
"SHI SHI HOKODAN!" Ryoga cried out, his eyes gazing heavenward as a pillar of green energy surrounded him and flew to the sky. As his head fell, the collected power fell with it, crashing into the area around him. The sheer force of the energy tagging the side of the strange man blew him into a wall.  
  
The man groaned before picking himself up. "Aaargh... can't afford to mess around any more." He mumbled.  
  
The emotion started to recharge itself in Ryoga's body. Ryoga looked up, noticing the man had been hurt pretty badly. "Heh, you should know not to mess with Ryoga Hibiki," Ryoga said, his depression alleviated somewhat. At least until the man pretended to casually brush himself off.  
  
"You've got some power, but not enough to even wound me." The man said, wincing as he felt his broken bones.  
  
Ryoga stared wide-eyed. "How can you withstand my attack?" He asked, becoming depressed again. "I'll just have to use it again!" He exclaimed.  
  
The man shook his head. "None of that now. I'd better do this while I still can." The man murmured. He held up a hand, pointing it at Ryoga. "Awaken, power of the dark. I call forth your inner demons!" He cried, a small spear of blackness launching itself from his hands, impaling Ryoga.  
  
Ryoga screamed as the spear embedded itself in him, causing his ki to warp wildly. It felt like someone else was controlling his ki. Ryoga growled, trying to resist the effects. However, as he had prepared himself for the Perfect Shi Shi Hokodan, he didn't have enough positive energy to resist the effects. Ryoga collapsed to the ground as energy boiled out of him, forming itself into a strange shape, that of a large, pigtailed boar man.  
  
"Well, that's certainly an interesting shape." The man muttered. He walked over and picked up Ryoga's fallen figure, throwing him over his shoulder. He beckoned to the boar man. "Come, we have to collect enough energy to make up for the waste of yesterday." He said, before lifting into the air. The boar man grunted, and began running along the ground, managing to keep up with him.  
-  
The immense energy generated by the Perfect Shi Shi Hokodan did not go unnoticed. In his class at Furinkan High School, Ranma had almost succumbed to the siren call of sleep when he felt a sense of slight depression pass over him, quickly leaving him. Ranma turned his head and looked out the window. Far off in the distance, he could see a small green ball rise up into the air, and sink back down.  
  
'Wonder what got Ryoga so depressed?' Ranma asked himself. He yawned. 'Ah well, probably sick of getting lost. The moron is in the Juuban district, yet probably won't make it here for a week.' Ranma was about to put his head back on the desk when something occurred to him.  
  
'Wait a minute... that strange... demon thing absorbed the Shi Shi Hokodan I fired at it and got stronger off of it. If one of those things gets a hold of Ryoga...' Ranma thought. While not generally smart in the normal term, he was a genius at fighting and it didn't take much effort to think of one of the strange demons filled with Ryoga's energy. 'Damnit pig boy, why couldn't you have gotten lost somewhere safer?!' Ranma thought vehemently.  
  
"Sensei." Ranma called. The teacher stopped writing things on the board and turned to him.  
  
"Yes, Saotome?" The teacher asked, knowing he wouldn't like this.  
  
"Well, I've got an important martial arts challenge about right now. I was threatened that if I didn't come, he would wreck the school." Ranma said, praying that the teacher would believe it.  
  
The rest of the students looked cheered up, but the teacher looked panicked. "My job!" He exclaimed. The teacher forced on a calm front. "Saotome, I give you permission to attend your martial arts challenge." He said with great formality, only to note that the window was open and Ranma was gone. He sighed and turned back to continue his lecture while the other students mumbled among themselves.  
  
"What is Ranma doing? He never said anything about a martial arts challenge." Akane whispered to herself.  
  
The Senshi had also realized something was wrong. Rei suddenly felt like the world was a dark and terrible place. That feeling passed quickly, but she excused herself from class to gain access to her communicator.  
  
For Ami, it was a beeping of the Mercury Computer. A discrete check of it revealed that the computer had detected an extremely large outpouring of energy, of the class "ki." She too was excused from class. She was such a good student that it wasn't very difficult to be let out of class, since the teacher's knew that she probably already knew the lesson plan for a couple weeks ahead.  
  
One by one, the rest of the Senshi managed to extract themselves from class and find someplace to access their communicators.  
  
"What's going on?" Usagi asked over her communicator. "My teacher isn't very happy with me."  
  
"The Mercury Computer has detected a large explosion of ki energy." Ami said. "Rei said she felt it. Also, it seems to be the same kind of energy that was powering that strange monster we fought. I believe that there is another one around." Ami continued.  
  
The rest could hear the crack of Makoto's knuckles over the communicator. "I'm always up for a fight! We have better transform now. If it's a false alarm, we can just leave, but if we have to transform onsite we might be in trouble." Makoto mentioned.  
  
"It's a good idea. A lot of our fights we wait to transform even when we know something is wrong. Its better to be sorry than safe!" Minako's voice rang out.  
  
Ami assumed the others were sweat dropping as she was. "Minako, that's better safe than sorry."  
  
Minako sounded sheepish. "Well, I guess that works too. C'mon, lets go!" She exclaimed.  
-  
The shadowed figure stared down at the pigtailed boar man in thought. "What to do with you? Your primary emotion is depression, but that's difficult to deal with. I guess I'll just have you incite anger. It burns a lot hotter and makes it easier to collect energy." The man said to himself. He looked down at the unconscious Ryoga. "Even if he fails, you are quite a prize. We could get enough energy from you to keep us active for several days."  
  
"The streets are extremely populous. It will certainly call out the enemy that destroyed the last gatherer, but I need to see who that is anyways. Gatherer, go and collect their energy!" He exclaimed, pointing. The boar man snorted and galloped away, heading to where his master had pointed.  
  
The gatherer roared as it leapt out among the people who, unsurprisingly, screamed and started to run. With a snort, the boar man held up his hand, pointing to the sky. A red ball of energy flew up into the air, before exploding into many small fragments of energy that rained down among the people. Their eyes grew blank, and they turned to each other. With a cry of rage from each of them that echoed around the buildings, they fell onto each other in a grand melee. Small trickles of red energy began to pour forth from them and into the boar man's hand as the combat continued.  
  
While the Senshi were on their way to the fighting, following the Mercury Computer, Ranma had ran at nearly top speed and arrived where he had seen the blast land.  
  
"Nothing here but a crater... and a man shaped hole in the wall." Ranma said aloud. "So he was fighting somethin', but where is he now?" Ranma asked, before leaping on top of a building to get a better vantage point.  
-  
The man tilted his head, his eyes not really watching the fighting down below. "I feel several strange powers approaching, but I can't quite get a handle on them. And one other power source is approaching as well, but seems overflowed with mostly positive emotion." He muttered.  
  
The Senshi ran up, and stared, appalled. Only a few citizens were still standing. Most had either run out of energy or been beaten into submission.  
  
"This is horrible!" Sailor Moon exclaimed. The others nodded.  
  
"So, are you the ones who destroyed my last Gatherer?" The dark man said from on the roof of a building.  
  
"So you are the cause of this?! For hurting all these people, I won't forgive you! I'm the pretty soldier of love and justice, Sailor Moon! And in the name of the moon, I will punish you!" Sailor Moon exclaimed.  
  
"You're going to punish me? That sounds awfully juvenile. I suppose it is to be expected." The man said. "Never mind. Gatherer, destroy them!" He exclaimed.  
  
The people dropped to the street as the manipulations of their energy ceased. The gatherer grunted, his body swollen with stolen energy. He growled, and charged forward, his head lowered.  
  
The Senshi scattered. "How's he supposed to hit us with his head lowered like that? I've seen stupid monsters, but this takes the cake." Jupiter said.  
  
"Venus Love-me Chain!" Venus yelled out, as a chain of linked hearts circled the Gatherer's feet and wrapped itself around them, dropping the Gatherer on the ground.  
  
"Well that was easy." Venus said. That was when the Gatherer flexed its legs, blowing the chain apart. Venus' jaw dropped. "Yikes!" She yelled out as the Gatherer brought itself back to its feet.  
  
The pigtailed boar held its hands forward. Spinning green and red energies coalesced in a ball of power. With a thrust of its arms, the ball was launched at Jupiter and Mars.  
  
"Burning Mandala!" Mars cried, launching small rings of flame at the assault.  
  
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Jupiter yelled, adding the strength of her lightning to the attack. The two attacks struck the ball of energy, forcing it to stall for a few seconds. However, the attacks were soon overpowered as the spinning ball of destruction crashed near the two Senshi's feet, knocking them both onto their backs.  
  
The gatherer began to charge more energy. However, it seemed to sense something, and spun around just as an azure ball of power slammed into it, knocking it several feet back.  
  
"Looks like I was right." Ranma muttered as he leapt off the building he had fired the Moko Takabisha from. "Hey, its those Sailor Senshi from before."  
  
"Ranma," Jupiter whispered as she climbed to her feet. Mars stood up as well.  
  
The Gatherer, however, had a strange reaction as it saw the new arrival. "Saotome...." It said in an incredibly deep voice that resonated all throughout the area. "DIE!" It cried, before leaping at Ranma at speeds that something that size shouldn't have been able to move.  
  
"Whoa!" Ranma cried, barely managing to dodge. "How do you know who I am?" Ranma asked it. The boar only snarled, and hurled a small ball of energy at Ranma, who was again forced to dodge.  
  
"How curious. Someone you know?" The Dark Man asked the unconscious figure of Ryoga.  
  
The Gatherer stopped moving and stood still. Its eyes bulged as green and red energies began to travel along its body. Both Ranma and Mars began to sense an immense gathering of energy.  
  
"Aagghh, the power!" Mars exclaimed, holding her hands on her head. She began to take steps backwards in fear.  
  
Ranma, however, could guess what was coming. "How does it know the perfect Shi Shi Hokodan?" Ranma asked. That was when he realized something. "Oh hell! If it uses it here, a lot of people are going to be killed!" No time was given for action, however.  
  
"SHI SHI HOKODAN!" The gatherer's incredibly deep voice echoed out, before a twisting spiral of hellish red and green energies erupted around it, towering into the air. At the apex of the column of power, a gigantic ball of energy formed together.  
  
"Stop that ball, any way you can!" Ranma yelled out. "If it falls, a lot of people will die!"  
  
Moon nodded. "Lets do it!"  
  
"Right!" The other Senshi said, Mars included as she managed to shake off her fear. The Senshi faced the Gatherer, calling out their attack phrases.  
  
All the Senshi's attacks were focused on the falling ball of energy. Lightning, Fire, Ice, Energy, and a Big Heart all slammed into the ball, holding it aloft. The combined power quickly began ripping away at the energy, before the ball was disrupted and ripped apart.  
  
"With no falling ball of energy to worry about... you are horribly open!" Ranma cried, laying into the Gatherer with a yell of, "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Hundreds of brutal punches rained down on the Gatherer, which found itself unable to act as effectively as it would like because of the time needed for the recovery from its emotionless state.  
  
After several seconds of being pummeled without being able to defend itself, the Gatherer collapsed to the ground. Unlike a person, it was unable to recover spent energy by normal means. The Perfect Shi Shi Hokodan had really been a big waste of energy.  
  
"Sailor Moon, you have to finish it!" Sailor Mars exclaimed.  
  
Moon nodded. "Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" She yelled, sending the Pink Heart of Doom (TM) toward the fallen Gatherer. The attack crashed through it, and without even a, "Lovely!" the monster exploded, red energy flying everywhere, most of it being returned to the people who were lying beat up unconscious on the ground. A small red and green stream flew up and entered Ryoga's body. He twitched, but did not awaken.  
  
The Senshi and Ranma turned towards the man who had orchestrated the entire event. He looked slightly annoyed.  
  
"Well, I see that my opponents are certainly not weaklings." He said.  
  
"Who are you!?" Venus yelled at him.  
  
The man tilted his head and considered the question. "Well, I've never actually thought of a real name for myself. I guess you could call me... Elion. Not that it really matters of course." Elion said. He bent down and picked up Ryoga. "Even without the energy collected from the people I've come away with quite a prize. This guy is like a battery for energy." He said.  
  
"Ryoga!" Ranma yelled out. He prepared to leap up to attack Elion, when something else interrupted. Namely, it was an Earth Powered rose ripping itself along Elion's arm. Elion yelled out in pain as Ryoga slipped out of his arms on off of the roof.  
  
"Gotcha!" Ranma said, grabbing Ryoga as he fell.  
  
Elion turned to face the newcomer. His eyes twitched as he saw a man wearing a tuxedo and top hat. He stared down at the rose that had embedded itself in the roof. "I don't know whether to be embarrassed for you or for me." Elion muttered to himself. "What do you think you are doing!?" He yelled at Tuxedo Kamen.  
  
Tuxedo Kamen tipped his hat. "I'm a bit late to do any help fighting, but I figured that as long as I was here, I could save at least one person."  
  
"Tuxedo Kamen!" Sailor Moon said, hearts in her eyes.  
  
Elion growled, truly annoyed this time. "Master will be extremely angry, but I'll make it up to him next time." Elion hissed, before black energy ripped along his body as he vanished.  
  
The Senshi turned to face Ranma, with Mercury activating her visor.  
  
"Thanks a lot for your help." Sailor Moon said. "But do you think you can tell me... how you were able to do all these neat things?"  
  
Ranma shrugged. "Lots and lots of training. I'm the best!" He exclaimed, puffing out his chest. However, Ryoga groaned, causing Ranma to drop his pose. "Look, I gotta get him to the hospital. Be seeing you, maybe." Ranma said, before hopping onto a building. He paused, and turned his head. "Errrrr... what way is the hospital?" He asked sheepishly. Mercury wordlessly pointed in a direction. "Thanks!" Ranma said, before roof hopping off.  
  
The Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen stared at him as he left. Venus turned to Mercury. "Is he really human?" She asked.  
  
Mercury nodded. "The computer's scans indicate that Ranma is human, and lacking any kind of dark energy we are aware of. The scans I've done on his energy class it as, "Ki," like Mars suggested."  
  
Jupiter still stared at where Ranma had been standing. "So you really can achieve such strength through training?" She asked in awe. "I knew he trained hard, but to be able to do such things... he must have gone through some pretty horrific training. I can't even do close to the things he does." Jupiter said.  
  
Tuxedo Kamen shook his head. "That's pretty amazing. Well, I've got a class that I need to head to. See you later." He said with a wave, before leaping off the building.  
  
Mercury turned to Jupiter. "By the way, my computer has managed to lock on to his energy signature. I should be able to track him relatively easy."  
  
Jupiter smiled. "Great! All I gotta do is find out where he lives, and I can finally talk to him, without him escaping!" She said.  
  
"Wait, wait!" Mars interjected. "You mean that computer can track auras?"  
  
Mercury was puzzled. "I don't know what you mean. But so far as I can tell, every being has a unique energy signature. If it is strong enough, I can track it over distances." Mercury said.  
  
Mars slapped her hand over her face. "So all these things I can do with training she can do with a computer? Arrgh!" Mars muttered.  
  
Mercury looked shocked. "Oh no, I didn't think of it that way!" She exclaimed. Mercury thought for a second. "Don't worry! I have to use a machine; you can just use your mind! And besides, I have to scan them for a while before I manage to map out their energy signature. You can just sense it immediately, right?" Mercury said.  
  
Mars looked slightly better. "You're right." Mars agreed.  
  
Meanwhile, Ranma had carried Ryoga to the Juuban hospital. After dropping him off, Ranma took to the rooftops and began to head home.  
  
'Why do they need ki?' Ranma wondered to himself as he leapt from building to building. 'Hopefully, I don't have to worry about Ryoga. He should get lost and be out of the city in no time.'  
  
'Those Sailor Senshi are certainly powerful. But can they really handle the enemy alone? I know the old ghoul said that they have been doing this for a few years, but another monster of that class would cause them problems.' Ranma thought. 'I don't want to avoid a fight if I can help it. Finally, something worthwhile to use my martial arts on. The only problem is... Mako-chan lives here. If I frequent the area, she might be able to find me.'  
  
Ranma leapt off the building, landing on the street of the Nerima ward. "Even if Mako-chan is there, Ranma Saotome will not be left out when it comes to fighting!" Ranma exclaimed, thrusting his fist to the heavens. Realizing how stupid it looked, he quickly dropped it and leapt onto one of the ever-present fences, running along it. Soon, he was back at the Tendo dojo, the place that he called home.  
  
End of Chapter 3 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Don't own Ranma or Sailor Moon. Rumiko Takahashi and Naoko Takeuchi own them, respectively.

Just recently got Sailor Moon Super S. If you wanna see what all the Senshi look like while on stupid pills, this is the season for you. Ironically, it made me like Chibi-usa more, mainly cause her intelligence doesn't lower. I think she went highlander on everyone else… Anyways, it did have some great scenes, but frankly, there were so many things they could have done to improve! someone tell me that Sailor Stars is better!

Bit late, but I just started college, so meh.

Probs should have mentioned this before. Sailor Moon, Anime, Post season three. Ranma, Manga, Manga 20ish (I only have 19, but its happening after the martial arts cheerleading.)

Chapter 4

"Mako-chan, are you sure you want to do this?"

Makoto stopped adjusting her shirt and pants and turned to Usagi, who was staring at her along with the rest of the group.

"I mean, he has pretty much come out and said he doesn't want to see you any more. I don't want to see you hurt!" Usagi continued.

"Don't worry about me! I'm just going to see how he can do all those things he did!" Makoto exclaimed, trying to reassure Usagi.

Minako shook her head. "You aren't fooling anyone, Mako-chan. But I'm so impressed that you haven't given up yet!" She said, sparkles in her eyes.

Ami looked concerned. "I don't know if such tenacity is such a good thing, Minako. Makoto, you really should have just forgotten him."

Makoto stared at her reflection. "I can't…" She whispered, too low for the others to hear. "No matter what, I always remember him."

Makoto turned from the mirror. "Well, I'll be off now. Are you sure this address is accurate?" Makoto asked Ami while holding up a piece of paper.

"It should be. He spent most of yesterday at that location, as well as staying there all night. If that isn't where he lives, then I don't know what he is doing." Ami said, checking her computer. "That's where he is right now, at least."

Makoto waved to them as she left the shrine, walking sedately for a few steps before picking up speed and hurdling down the stairs. Chibi-Usa stared at the spot on the steps where a blur had just passed by. She chose to ignore it, and concentrated on putting on her best angry expression, while purposefully stomping up the steps.

The other four Senshi were about to sneak after Makoto when the shrine door slammed open. Slowly, they turned, to see the sight of a pink haired girl with one of the angriest expressions they had ever seen.

"Uh, hi Chibi-Usa," Usagi said nervously. Chibi-Usa didn't say anything, content to glare at them for several seconds.

Finally though, she couldn't contain it anymore. "Why haven't you guys been calling me when the monsters come!!??" She yelled at the inners, the force blowing their hair around.

"Err, well, that is…" They all said nervously.

"Well, we just… didn't think it would be right to call you to fight an unknown enemy if we had any choice in the matter," Rei said, while the others sweated nervously.

"Is that it?" Chibi-Usa asked, glaring at them.

"Yes that's…" Rei started, before she was interrupted.

"Waaaaah!" Usagi started bawling. "The meanie Rei said she was tired of me being late! Then we started arguing!" Usagi said while still bawling. "And then, it was too late! It's all Rei's fault!"

Rei's face twitched. "Usagi… she didn't need to know that!" She cried before leaping onto Usagi, restarting the face-pulling contest they had begun several days ago.

The others groaned. Minako shook her head. "Yup, because of the fight we didn't have enough time to call you."

Chibi-Usa sighed. 'They don't fight like this in the future…do they???' She asked herself, trying to remember but not coming up with anything.

Elsewhere, Makoto was riding a train to the Nerima Ward. As a Senshi, she could have gotten there pretty fast, but Makoto wasn't about to transform just to go meet her old Sempai.

'Finally, I can meet him, just the two of us! And he won't be able to run away! Then we can be like we were in the old days!' The optimistic part of Makoto exclaimed.

However, the pessimistic part also had something to say. 'Its not like I haven't already talked to him. Maybe he found another girl on that trip of his?'

Makoto shook her head to clear her thoughts. 'I guess I'll have to find out, now won't I?'

The object of her thoughts was currently trying to avoid falling unconscious.

"Akane! What happened to Kasumi? Why didn't she cook!?" He asked, doubled over and holding his stomache.

Akane glared at him. "She went out to get groceries! And since I know you were hungry now, I decided to be nice and cook some food for you! You should be grateful!"

Ranma struggled to stand upright. Even after all this time, Akane's cooking could still take him out of commission if he ate enough of it. "Nice? How is poisoning me nice!?" He exclaimed, only to receive a pound on the head.

"Its nice because I went out of my way to cook for you! So maybe I accidentally added salt instead of sugar! It can't be as bad as you are making it out to be!" Akane exclaimed, growling angrily.

"I think… you did a bit more than just that." Ranma muttered under his breath. After a few more minutes, his system managed to shake off the effects of the cooking. He eyed the poison on a plate with a healthy respect. Had he eaten any more of it, he would have been bedridden.

A panda walked into the room, before noticing the food on the table. "Don't want any, boy?" The sign asked. Without even waiting for an answer, the panda scooped up the food and shoveled it down his throat. The panda stood there for several seconds, before going cross-eyed and collapsing to the ground.

"Boy, how could you not tell me Akane cooked this!?" Genma's sign said.

Ranma stared down at the fallen figure. "Cause you didn't give me a chance to. Besides, now you can see what I have to go through cause of you." Ranma said to the panda.

Both heard a snap. A glowing Akane growled and tossed the chopsticks she had been holding aside. "If you hate it so much…"

"…Then get out of here!" Akane yelled, as Ranma and Genma both flew out of the room. Akane huffed, and headed to the kitchen to try cleaning up the mess she had made. After staring at it for a few seconds, she decided that she would wait for her sister's help.

Ranma picked himself up. "Having fun, old man?" He asked the panda, who had tears coming out of its eyes.

"You should have eaten all of it!" The sign said. The panda held up a second one. "Then I would not have to suffer!"

Ranma kicked Genma in the stomach. The panda's eyes crossed and it looked even sicker than it had been before.

Ranma began to debate whether he wanted to stay and eat Kasumi's cooking or head out to one of the restaurants staffed by one of his fiancées. After several minutes of deliberation, however, someone knocked on the door.

Akane left the kitchen and answered the door. Ranma had almost reached a conclusion when Akane yelled out, "Ranma, get over here!"

Ranma headed to the door. "What is it you… Makoto?" Ranma gulped.

Makoto bowed. "Hi, Sempai!" She exclaimed.

Ranma looked at Akane, whose eyes had started to narrow, nervously. "Um, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to you." Makoto said. "You kept leaving so suddenly. I know you couldn't have really meant what you said!"

Akane's started to glow slightly. She turned to Ranma. "Who is this? Another fiancée?" She asked dangerously.

Ranma shook his head in denial. "No! She isn't a fiancée! She's just my old girlfriend!" He yelled at her.

The glow intensified. "What… did you say?" Akane asked him while twitching. Makoto looked confused.

Ranma blinked. "What did I say?" He wondered aloud. After a few second of thought parsing, he realized just what he had said. "Oh hell…"

"You idiot!" Akane cried, belting him into lower earth orbit using the patented female fist of rage. She spun to face Makoto.

Makoto took several steps backwards, her hands reaching into a pocket for her henshin stick. "Just what are you?!"

"I'm a martial artist!" She exclaimed. "What is your business with that jerk? Are you coming to claim him just like every other drooling hussy out there?" Akane asked Makoto dangerously.

Makoto let go of the henshin stick. If she really was human, Makoto couldn't use it on her. "Look, I just wanted to talk to Ranma. Just what is your relation to him? Cousin?"

Akane shook her head, the glow having trailed off as the object of her rage left her vision. "No, I'm his fiancée." Akane said.

Makoto staggered backwards as if struck. "F-f-fiancée?!" Makoto exclaimed. "He's already proposed to you?"

Akane stared at her as if she was mad. "Proposed? Of course not. That jerk can't say a decent thing even when he tries. I don't want to be engaged to him. Our parents arranged it!"

Makoto blinked. "Its an arranged marriage?" She asked.

Akane nodded. "Yeah. So you had better just leave him alone. He has got a whole bunch of other girls after him, and they like playing rough." Akane stated. She frowned. "You are really an old girlfriend of Ranma?"

Makoto was having a hard time understanding what Akane had been saying. "Yeah, we were going out for a while." She said. "What do you mean a whole bunch of other girls after him?"

"Basically, his father engaged him to every girl under the sun, and he picked one up in China. He claims to not like them chasing him, but if he really meant it he would do something about it." Akane muttered.

Akane sighed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have dinner to work on." Akane said, before slamming the door in Makoto's face.

She stomped passed Genma, who had apparently decided to take a nap on the carpet. Heedless of the mess she had already caused, Akane again began to try cooking. Now that she was somewhat alone, the emotion came boiling up to the surface. "All this time, and he had a girlfriend? And he never said anything? That jerk!" Akane exclaimed, chopping the cutting board to bits, and leaving the carrot she had been trying to cut completely untouched. Her voice softened. "Why didn't he say anything? None of this would have happened then."

Makoto was trying to wrap her mind around what she had learned with little success. Finally, she shook her head, and ran off in the direction Ranma been launched. 'Maybe he can clear up what's going on.' Makoto thought to herself. 'And I had better make sure he is all right. I saw him do some pretty amazing stuff, but if he can survive that fall, it's going to easily be the most amazing.'

Ranma-chan was busy wringing out her shirt, which had gotten wet from the pool she had landed in. She shook her head. "Just how does water manage to relocate itself under me every time I go flying? I'm sure its not where I land, but where it moves!" Ranma said, before putting the shirt back on. She hopped to her feet.

"Well, Makoto probably knows everything now. It makes things simpler, I guess." Ranma muttered. She began heading back to the Tendo dojo. "I better make sure she gets out of town safely. If Shampoo finds out, there could be a lot of trouble…" Ranma whispered.

"Maybe I shoulda just taken her on the trip. Although now I know pops wouldn't have ever allowed it." Ranma said to herself. "Argh, why has everything become so complicated?!"

"That fiasco that you perpetrated has expended a great deal of energy." A multi-toned voice seemed to echo around the area. The area being a strange room seemingly formed of pulsating power.

The voice had come from a floating figure, wrapped in layers of black power. There was no way to tell if it was male or female, as the enveloping black energy shrouded its form as like the many layers of bandages on a mummy. Elion, or the being that had recently called itself Elion, stood before it, with his head bowed.

"I am sorry master. The human I turned was full of negative energy, but a group of strangely dressed girls and a powerful man managed to stop me." Elion said. "However, they were extremely powerful! They weren't ordinary at all!"

The voice turned frigid. "You weren't defeated by them, however. You could have still escaped with the vessel. But in the end, you were defeated by a strange plant, with a small trace of positive energy in it. What have you to say about that?" The echoing voice asked.

Elion grimaced. He had hoped that the Master had not been monitoring the fight, but obviously that hope was in vain. "It was unexpected. I did not believe someone would try attacking me in such a way. It will not happen again."

"It had better not. If you waste too much more energy, I might just have to rip you apart, and use the energies for something more constructive. You are dismissed." The multi-toned voice said, before fading away. Energy wrapped around Elion, before he disappeared from the area.

Above the city of Tokyo, tendrils of darkness wrapped themselves into a ball, before a man shaped figure appeared in the center. The ball of dark power wrapped itself around him, turning into a blackish aura enveloping him in its comforting darkness.

Elion looked down on the Juuban ward. "You really aren't worth the risk, for so little gain. I can feel the negative energies, and they are unremarkable. I need a vessel of negative energies, like I had before. Then I wouldn't need to risk draining energy from people." Elion said, aloud to himself. He slowly spun, eyes closed, before thrusting out an arm, and pointing a finger towards Nerima. His eyes opened slowly.

"I didn't choose you before, because there was so much power in you. But now, I think it is time I tried harvesting some of the immense negative energies that fester inside you.

End Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma or Sailor Moon. Any ficcer worth their salt knows Rumiko Takahashi and Naoko Takeuchi own them, respectively ;).  
  
Thanks for the reviews! They help me work on this fic, even through college. Basically, the initial story elements with Akane and stuff were more status quo. If I wanted to make Akane look bad, Ranma would be a little different in personality and be severely negatively affected by her actions. As it is, they don't really do anything in the long run. Still, thanks for the kick in the pants Spanner. It made me think a bit, which I believe helped a lot :)  
  
Glomp: Pretty much a powerful hug. It's what Shampoo always does to Ranma. Happosai does it to women's chests. In the manga, it usually says glomp in the background whenever it happens.  
  
Thanks to my pre readers who I forgot to mention last chapter: Kuno Baby and Ranger5.  
  
Formatting might be a little mashed. Unfortunately, I can't seem to quick edit the stupid thing, and since it won't take my .doc files, I have to use .txt, which ffnet does weird things to  
  
Chapter 5 -----------------------  
  
Elion almost suffered a bout of evil laughter. He tried to resist, and ended up cackling manically. He was observing the flows of energy in Nerima, and Elion felt that now was the time for him to come back from his defeats.  
  
"There are many powerful energy flows. However, a lot of them seem to run on negative power. It's going to be dangerous, but I should be able to deal with this." Elion said, smirking. He began floating down towards his target. It wouldn't have surprised any of the denizens of Nerima that one of the greatest focuses of negative emotions in Nerima was the Tendo dojo. "There are two great powers at this location... both definitely of the kind that I need. This shouldn't be too hard."  
  
-------------------------  
  
Ranma-chan was running along the fence, trying to get back to the dojo before Makoto left. Makoto, however, was running along the ground in a parallel street, trying to get back to where Ranma had landed. Due to their focus on the point of arrival instead of the path they were taking they completely missed each other.  
  
What neither of them missed, however, was a sense of darkness, of emotions twisted and warped from the "normal" balance that all people had, to something far worse.  
  
Ranma skidded to a halt, her body tensing. She had felt this power before, possessed by the being known as Elion. "He's coming here? I can sense him ahead. Is he... at the dojo? If he's hurt anybody..." Ranma growled. Ranma catapulted from the fence, landing on the roof of one of the ever-present houses. Like a rabbit, she was off, bouncing from building to building in long effortless leaps.  
  
Makoto, whose ki senses weren't nearly as developed, still felt a sudden flash of despair, coming from the Dojo she had just left. The sudden "wrongness" caused her to stop in her tracks.  
  
'What is this feeling?' Makoto wondered to herself, before frowning. 'It feels so heavy, like it is weighing on my soul.'  
  
Makoto backed up against the wall of a house, opening her communicator, and quickly hailed the other Senshi. In less than a minute their faces appeared inside the wrist communicator.  
  
"Guys, I can't be sure, but I think there is something happening in Nerima." Makoto said anxiously.  
  
"Yeah, Rei says she feels something powerful and evil. She says it feels just like that Elion guy we fought." Usagi said over the communicator. However, the voice sounded a little loud. With a twitch in her eye, Makoto went to the other side of the wall.  
  
Backed up against the wall, with big sweat drops on their heads, stood the other five Sailor Senshi in civilian garb, their communicators open. They closed the communicators, chuckling nervously.  
  
"You guys were going to spy on me..." Makoto said dangerously to them.  
  
"Well, can you blame us?" Usagi asked sweating. Ami had buried her face in her hands while Rei and Minako shook their heads. Chibi-Usa put on a face of innocence.  
  
Makoto sighed. "At least you guys are here." Makoto said. She turned to Rei. "You've felt Elion's presence?"  
  
Rei nodded. "His aura is pretty strong and distinctive. Even more so when he is actively using his power. He is up to something. We don't have much time." Rei said, pulling out her henshin wand. The others nodded and pulled theirs out as well.  
-  
Elion floated to the ground, and with a casual, nearly flippant gesture tore down the door to the Tendo dojo. The sliding pane crashed inwards while Elion held up his hand, pulsing with dark power. He stepped inside, small trails of darkness being left behind his boots.  
  
"Who are you!?" Akane yelled at Elion as she came into the den from the kitchen. As she saw Elion however, she took a step backwards. "What are you?" She asked, fearful. Something was very off about this man. His aura indicated that he was no martial artist she was familiar with, the pulsing blackness something Akane had never seen before.  
  
"Don't worry my dear. I merely want your energy." Elion said. He smirked as he held up his hand, pointing his finger at Akane.  
  
Akane growled. "You want my what?" She asked. Her response to the intrusion was to reach for the emotion that had pulled her though so many of the trials in her life. She reached for the comforting fire that was her anger. Like a well-trained steed the emotion responded and anger flooded her being as she leapt forward, her fists quickly flying forward with deadly intent. However, Elion simply released the coil of darkness he had been holding on his fingertips. The blacked stream flew forward, impacting with Akane's body. Akane collapsed to the ground as streams of energy started flowing out of her.  
  
"Such anger and power. This will certainly create a fine gath... what the hell?!" Elion asked, shocked. The streams of energy had swirled around and coalesced, forming themselves into the shape of an extraordinarily beautiful woman. She had long, purple hair with twin buns in the top, tied into a pigtail at the back. She wore a spatula strapped to a shoulder harness, and wore a simple chef's uniform. Small, upswept parts of her uniform seemed to form themselves into miniature horns, and the coloration of her skin was oddly red.  
  
The gatherer's appearance was not what had shocked Elion, however. What shocked him, was that as soon as the gatherer formed it had immediately fallen to the ground, and sat there with a blank expression.  
  
"What are you doing? Get up!" Elion yelled at it. The beautiful woman simply stared at him. "You good for nothing!" Elion berated it. Its eyes flashed and it suddenly stood, glaring at him. Elion took a step back. However, she didn't make any moves, and seemed content to stare at Elion, her eyes boring into him.  
  
Elion grimaced. "Not exactly what I anticipated. But I think I can work around this. Follow me, you stupid thing." Elion told her. The gatherer's eyes lit up with red energy. However, it made no move other than to move around and stand behind him.  
  
Akane stared up at the strange thing that had been formed from her negative energy, and the man who had formed it. Akane felt so tired, and empty. Small tears began to form in her eyes before she fell unconscious, her energy reserves completely depleted.  
  
Elion left the unconscious girl lying on the floor. Dark, wispy energy again began to curl around his hand, as he headed through the house. He sensed another source of negative energies nearby, this one far more versatile as it was filled with anger, greed, cowardice, selfishness, deceit, fear and a host of other negative emotions.  
  
He found the source lying on the ground, apparently asleep. Elion raised his eyebrows. 'Far be it for me to be this lucky.' He said to himself. 'Strange that such a creature would have strong negative power, but my senses do not lie.'  
  
Elion held up his hand, pointing at the sleeping panda on the ground. The dark energies lanced out, striking through the panda. Like with Akane, streams of energy began to pulse and spin around the room. They soon coalesced, forming the shape of Elion's next gatherer.  
  
"What the heck is up with you people?" Elion asked rhetorically. The energies had formed together, creating an extremely short, fat, bald ancient old man. Elion scowled. "And what exactly does this have to do with your emotions? Fortunately, my plan does not hinge and what shape you take form, for which I am most glad." Elion said, before he pointed to the first gatherer he had created.  
  
"Stand beside him." Elion ordered her. She slowly shuffled over and stood beside the strange old man.  
  
The black mantle of energy that had flowed around Elion twisted itself off of him and formed itself into a ball in front of him. Elion began to chant, the ball of black power pulsing to the rhythm. He spoke no words, just meaningless phrases that somehow seemed to fit.  
  
The dark ball of power suddenly launched itself at the two gatherers, surrounding them in darkness. Elion collapsed to the ground, kneeling as the black energy crackled. Quickly, it soon faded away, revealing something completely different than what had been there before.  
  
Any resemblance to any real figures had gone. What stood in the gatherers' place was a seven-foot tall demon. It looked like a tall man with a somewhat attractive face. Long, black hair streamed behind from its head. Two streams of pulsating multi colored energy flowed from its back, while a long, whip like tail flowed out of the simple pants it was wearing.  
  
Elion managed to pick himself up, climbing to his feet. He observed his handiwork with a smirk. "And that is that." Elion said smugly. "The merger has pretty much reduced any meaning to the emotion, relying almost entirely on their potency. This should be plenty to deal with anyone in the area."  
  
"I'll be back for you fools." Elion promised, before he pointed upwards, and catapulted into the air, blasting through the roof of the Tendo home. The new gatherer followed, the streams of energy on its back flowing outward and acting like wings.  
  
Elion had barely avoided Ranma, as she hurled through the broken down door. She panted heavily as she looked around.  
  
"Hey, tomboy! Are you all right?" Ranma asked, kneeling down beside the falling girl. Akane made no movement however. Only the rising and falling of her chest gave any indication that she was even alive.  
  
"Damn!" Ranma cursed. She moved through the house, finding her fallen father... exactly where she had left him earlier that day.  
  
"Yo pops, wake up!" Ranma cried while kicking the downed panda. Like Akane, Genma made no motion to even awaken. The normally vibrant energies that ran through them both had severely diminished, the trickle of energy a far cry from the torrents they normally possessed.  
  
"I'll make you pay for this Elion!" Ranma yelled heavenwards. She grabbed some hot water from the sink; not even noticing the mess the kitchen was, before the now male Ranma leapt out of the dojo and onto the roofs. He could still felt Elion's presence. The, well, whatever he was left a trail of darkness as easy to track as oil on snow. Ranma spun, and began to head unerringly towards where the darkness was greatest.  
-  
Elion had wasted no time. As soon as he found a large crowd, the gatherer swooped down and began to absorb the energy of the people. They panicked and screamed, but before they could get anywhere they found themselves incredibly tired. Most fell where they stood, but here and there a few managed a few staggering steps, while the strongest among them took no more than five steps, before she collapsed to the ground.  
  
"Those Sailor Senshi have proven to have extremely quick reaction times." Elion said aloud. "Get as much energy as you can! We will need the power." Elion told it, before floating up onto a building and cloaking himself in shadows.  
  
The gatherer nodded emotionlessly. With all of its emotions in balance, it had no problem ignoring the irrational cries they made towards him. The gatherer simply flew in the air, multicolored ribbons of power flowing into his body. As they flowed, he grew in size. His skin turned ebony black, while the wings of energy on his back lengthened. At the edge of its vision, it was aware of several strands of blackness beginning to weave through the area, but paid the energies of its master no mind.  
  
"Looks like I won't be disappointed." Elion said from his position on the roofs. The five Senshi and the Senshi in training had arrived. "Do they have some kind of fortune teller? This is a completely different part of the city." Elion muttered.  
  
"Stop it!" Moon yelled at the gatherer as the other Senshi arrayed themselves to her side. The gatherer turned its head to face her, but the streams of energy flowing into it did not stop.  
  
"I don't think it's going to stop this time, just because you told it to." Mars said. "You have to do something a bit more drastic. Burning Mandala!" Mars yelled, her arms outstretched. She placed her hands together, rings of fire appearing and being launched at the gatherer, who almost idly flew higher into the air, the burning rings passing under it. The gatherer snorted as the streams of energy stopped flowing and disappeared.  
  
"You will die." The gatherer said simply, in a strangely human voice, with no echo or hissing. It raised a hand, palm outwards facing the Senshi. A pulsing, green light appeared and shot to the ground in the middle of the Senshi, who scattered.  
  
"Your aim is terrible!" Jupiter yelled at it. The pulsing orb embedded itself in the ground. Small tendrils of energy started to reach out from it.  
  
"Let's do it!" Chibi-Moon, the Senshi from the future, cried.  
  
"Right!" The others said. They began to position themselves to blast the monster into dust. The gatherer simply pointed. Slowly, they turned around to see the pulsing ball that they had thought had simply been a simple blast of energy. Small, short offshoots of energy had grown from it. With a high-pitched squeal, the ball of energy suddenly spun, the small offshoots growing great lengths into raw streams of energy. The streams crashed into each of the Senshi who were unable to move in time, knocking them around and onto the ground and into walls. Chibi-Moon slammed her head and collapsed into unconsciousness, while the others suffered severe bruising.  
  
Slowly, the Senshi picked themselves up from the ground. Sailor Moon rushed over to Chibi-Moon, cradling her head.  
  
"Chibi-Moon, Chibi-Moon!" Sailor Moon cried, shaking her. Chibi-Moon groaned, but otherwise stayed unconscious. Sailor Moon sighed in relief before setting her carefully back on the ground.  
  
"Crescent Beam Shower!" Sailor Venus yelled, pointing her finger up in the air. A bright yellow beam fired from her finger, before shattering into many smaller beams that crashed in the area around the gatherer. It seemed to skate in the air, flowing backwards through the air as the beams crashed into the ground, creating several small craters.  
  
"Shabon Spray Freezing!" Mercury cried desperately, her arms outstretched. Freezing bubbles shot out of her hands, obscuring the area. "Jupiter, use your power!" Mercury exclaimed.  
  
Sailor Jupiter nodded. She crossed her arms over her chest while an antenna rose from her tiara. "Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter yelled, launching high voltage electricity through the mist. Wind rose suddenly, the mist flowing along, covering the Senshi just as the electricity was released. It traveled through, running several thousand volts of electric current through each of the Senshi. They collapsed to their knees, their bodies no longer able to obey their commands.  
  
The mist blew past them as the electricity dispersed, revealing the gatherer. It simply floated in the air, palm outstretched towards them. Another pulsing ball of energy began to form from its palm. Weakly the Senshi stood.  
  
"Crush of Low Orbit!" A voice called from above. The Senshi, Elion, and the gatherer all looked up. The gatherer's vision, however, was filled with Chinese style shoes as a high velocity foot crashed into its face from above. Its flight failed as it fell to the ground, and Ranma bounced off, doing a flip in mid air landing on his feet and facing the gatherer.  
  
"The tomboy may be uncute and violent, and my old man may lie and steal and cheat a lot, but I'm not going to let you do whatever you want to them." Ranma told the gatherer, anger in his voice.  
From his perch, Elion snorted. "Well, looks like they are all here. Time to take them down." He said, before shrugging, and making a gesture with his hands.  
  
The gatherer used its wings of energy to pull itself in to the air. Ranma smirked and dug his feet into the ground, ready for its next move.  
  
However, instead of preparing any kind of attack, the gatherer began to fly backwards, moving away from them.  
  
"Where are you going!?" Ranma demanded of it. Mars suddenly blinked. She began to sense something that she could have sworn hadn't been there before.  
  
"We have to separate! Something big is going to happen!" Mars yelled, before leaping away from the others. They scattered, as Elion let go of the cloak of darkness, making him visible.  
  
"Its good to see you all again." Elion began conversationally. His eyes narrowed. "I'm really going to miss you. VOID BOMB!!!" He abruptly screamed out. As he yelled the words, black streams of energy that had previously been invisible suddenly appeared. The formed themselves into a ring around the Senshi, who hadn't separated far enough, and Ranma, who hadn't realized what was happening.  
  
The energy began to rise higher as it constricted itself. Soon, a dome of swirling darkness surrounded them fully. The dome began to constrict, moving closer and closer. Step by step, Ranma and the Senshi backed themselves closer, until they touched back to back.  
  
Elion smiled. "This whirling cyclone of dark energy will simply close in on you, before exploding into a bomb of nothingness. It has been nice seeing you." Elion taunted. He yawned theatrically as a rose crashed into the barrier he had flashed around himself, before letting it fade. The rose disintegrated, causing dust particles to fly into his face, but not otherwise harming him.  
  
He turned to the tuxedo-clad figure that had arrived. "Ah yes, and here you are." Elion said.  
  
Tuxedo Kamen grimaced. The Senshi were in quite a precarious position, and his enemy was apparently unaffected by his standard attack. He whipped out his cane and leapt at Elion, who formed a beam of darkness into the shape of a sword. He panted, but brought the sword up, stopping the cane from crushing his skull.  
  
"I've been really meaning to deal with you, ever since last time." Elion said through gritted teeth. "That loss you handed me was intolerable!" He yelled out, leaping to the offensive. His sword was a blur as he swung at Tuxedo Kamen, who was hard pressed to block his strikes.  
  
Meanwhile, Ranma and the Senshi were desperately thinking of ways to get out of their current predicament. Mercury had her computer open and was typing swiftly, analyzing the energy swirling around them. Mars had begun a chant, her spiritual energies slowing the advance of the darkness. Sailor Moon had picked up Chibi-Moon when the energies started, and was carrying her. Slowly, her hand was inching towards her broach. Jupiter and Venus simply stood, both trying to figure out something, but failing.  
  
"I've managed to analyze this energy. It's pretty much as Elion said. A swirling cyclone of darkness that will erupt once it hits us. I can't figure out anything to do!" Mercury cried. Tears started to trickle down her cheeks. "I just can't think of anything!" The normally cool headed Senshi of Mercury yelled.  
  
The energy had darkened even further, turning pitch black. Slowly, as the sides came closer, the top came down.  
  
"Moko Takabisha!" Ranma yelled, thrusting a small blue ball of energy into the surrounding walls of darkness. The ball seemed to disappear into the blackness, completely vanishing.  
  
"No way am I trying the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken." Ranma muttered. "Stupid pops says he knows so much about demons. Why didn't he teach me any techniques for escaping from demon traps, then?"  
  
"There's one thing I think will work, but I really wish I didn't have to try it." Ranma said. The Senshi turned their heads towards him as he continued, "I know a technique that works off of heat to create a tornado. This energy doesn't have heat, but the technique may work still work on it!"  
  
"What can we do?" Jupiter asked him. Ranma looked thoughtful for a second. He nodded himself and turned his heads towards Mercury.  
  
"I remember your powers dealing with cold. You need to ice down the other Senshi. Once that's done, you need to circle me. When I yell out, thrust your fists to the sky! I'll use my technique. Hopefully, the energies will hopefully mix together, forming a whirlwind. With any luck, it will stay around us and not touch us."  
  
"What if it doesn't work?" Venus asked, with a quivering voice.  
  
Ranma gulped. "Then I think that's it for us. But you have the best martial artist in the world to help you! It's all gonna be okay." Ranma said. "It's the best I can think of."  
  
Moon nodded. The preternatural calm that descended upon her in truly desperate situations where her friends could be seriously hurt kept any hint of crying or tears out of her voice. "We have to. Lets do it!"  
  
Mercury turned around, facing them all. With a cry of, "Shabon Spray Freezing!" she hurled massive amounts of freezing bubbles at the others. The bubbles spread around, chilling them to the bone. However, they remained unfrozen, the powers of the Sailor Senshi protecting them, while Ranma had slipped into the soul of ice and didn't mind the extra cold. The Senshi organized themselves around Ranma, forming a circle.  
  
Outside of the dome of whirling darkness, Tuxedo Kamen and Elion continued their duel. After his initial rush, Elion had begun to fight conservatively. Tuxedo Kamen had fought recklessly, sending blow after blow at Elion in any direction he thought he could get through. Invariably, Elion managed to evade or block his blow, increasing Tuxedo Kamen's desperation.  
  
Elion leapt backwards, lowering his sword. Both panted raggedly. "I'm almost out of power." Elion admitted. "But the others are almost out of life!"  
  
Tuxedo Kamen turned his head, and gulped as he saw how close together the dome was. Then he saw nothing, as the gatherer that had been avoiding the fight suddenly swooped in and crashed its fist into Tuxedo Kamen's head while he was distracted.  
  
Elion chuckled, before his legs buckled, dropping him on his behind. "I got him." Elion rasped. He turned and faced the Void Bomb he had created. "I guess Zandain was right. Plans do help."  
  
Inside the Void Bomb, Ranma and the Senshi were enacting their own plan. Ranma stood in the middle of the circle of Senshi. They all shivered, the freezing brought on by Mercury's attack keeping them extremely cold.  
  
"Do it NOW!" Ranma exclaimed. As one, the Senshi thrust their fists to the air, as Ranma spun and leapt in a spiral uppercut. Cold energy drifted upwards from them, mixing in with the spiraling darkness. As Ranma pumped his ki into the soul of ice, the chill began to react with the darkness as it was mixed thoroughly by the spiral. Ranma frowned, as nothing seemed to happen.  
  
Suddenly, the energy began to tower as it swirled. The darkness began to fade as an immense wind replaced it. The dome dispersed as a massive tornado sprang up, swirling high into the sky. Large chunks of dirt and rubble were pulled into the tornado, spewing out at the top. In the center, the Senshi and Ranma had begun to float, pulled upwards slightly by the sheer force, even in the eye of the storm. The tornado dug downwards into the ground, creating a gigantic crater rivaling that of the perfected Shi Shi Hokodan.  
  
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the roaring winds began to fade. Ranma and the Senshi were gently set and the ground. They could finally see again, the darkness having dispersed totally.  
  
"Oh no..." Moon said softly. Many chunks of dirt had landed on several of the unconscious people.  
  
Ranma looked worried for a second, before he relaxed. "Don't worry. It looks like no rubble actually made it to any of the people. I bet they'll have killer headaches when they wake up, but should be ok." Ranma reassured her. He then catapulted up onto the rooftop, where Elion was staring slack jawed at them.  
  
Elion slowly pulled himself to his feet. He staggered for a second, before righting himself. He began to back away as Ranma advanced menacingly on him.  
  
"Gatherer, finish him off!" Elion ordered. "I don't know where you got the raw strength to cancel my void bomb, but my gatherer will take care of you now!" Elion exclaimed.  
  
The demon shaped monster launched itself at Ranma. Ranma crossed his arms as the gatherer formed a fist and ploughed into Ranma, knocking them both off the building. Like he had done before, Ranma flipped and righted himself in midair, while the gatherer simply flew to the ground and landed.  
  
"You have great strength." The gatherer said slowly. "It will not be enough."  
  
Ranma growled. "Your going down!" He told it. Ranma charged forward, spinning around the power packed punch it shot at him, grabbing onto its hand, and hurling it away from him. To his surprise, after a second it flew back, going past him in the opposite direction he had thrown it.  
  
"Tsk, tsk Ranma, throwing things at harmless old ladies." Cologne said, staff pointed outwards.  
  
"Nihao, Ranma!" Shampoo chirped. She would have run forward to hug him, but Cologne had warned that it might not be a good idea at this time.  
  
"Old ghoul!" Ranma exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Cologne raised an eyebrow. "I live in this city. You would think more people would be here, except for the fact that a dark power is keeping them away. Pretty weak, however." Cologne said. "I felt an incredible force here just a bit ago, and I came to see if you were in over your head."  
  
"I'm not in over my head! Now that Elion is out of tricks, this guy should be a piece of cake." Ranma said.  
  
"Oh really? And how do you know that Elion, whoever he is, is out of tricks? Furthermore, why don't you take a look at the monster I just whacked, and tell me how easy he is going to be." Cologne ordered, pointing behind Ranma.  
  
Ranma spun, and would have gotten a fist in the face if he hadn't sensed it at the last moment and dodged it, before he spun and struck the gatherer with a kick from behind, sending it to the ground. It easily rolled to its feet and stood, looking none the worse for wear.  
  
Cologne eyed it appraisingly. "What a strange being. It has no physical body to speak of. Most interesting." She said to herself.  
  
"Venus Love-Me Chain!" a voice yelled out. The gatherer spun just to get a chain of linked hearts wrapped around its legs. Sailor Venus pulled hard, dragging the gatherer to the ground.  
  
"Shine Aqua Illusion!" Sailor Mercury yelled, doing a spin and launching a freezing wave of ice at the gatherer. Its face twisted in panic, the first actual emotion it had shone, before it stretched its legs wide, breaking the chains. It tumbled out of the way, the Shine Aqua Illusion freezing the ground where it had just been.  
  
Ranma cracked his knuckles. "I got this, ghoul. It's going down." Ranma told Cologne. Before he had even taken a step forward, Shampoo began to berate him.  
  
"Ranma big idiot! Listen to great grandmother. Did you not see? It no even pay attention to great grandmother's hit!" Shampoo yelled at him.  
  
Cologne nodded. "I don't think a physical attack will work against this menace. Notice it goes to great lengths to avoid the Sailor Senshi's attacks, but doesn't really bother to avoid yours? You need to use an alternate method of attack." Cologne said.  
  
Ranma's eyes twitched. "And why don't you help?" he asked Cologne.  
  
Cologne simply shrugged and grinned at him. "Because it's always nice to see a great battle. You just can't get the same feeling if you participate. Besides, I'm just an old lady who has nothing to do but play matchmaker with her great granddaughter. I couldn't be of any help." Cologne told him, a twinkle in her eye.  
  
Ranma stared at her. "That really isn't quite right..." He trailed off. He turned his head to see the sight of the gatherer doing what seemed to be midair gymnastics while the Senshi tried to pelt it with their attacks. A tiara was doing flybys, while the gatherer had actually started to look annoyed. "Guess I had better do it." Ranma said.  
  
Ranma took up position behind the gatherer. He began hopping back and forth as the occasional fire ring, ball of ice, and blast of electricity missed the gatherer and struck past it. As the attacks started to slack, the Senshi noticing his position, Ranma smirked.  
  
'Got you.' Ranma thought to himself, before thrusting both palms forward, the confidence of his mind pulling ki from his body and into a large ball of blue energy. Without saying anything, Ranma released the ball of self-esteem.  
  
The gatherer spun around, sensing the energy, only to get beaned in the head by the Moon Tiara as it stopped paying attention. Its eyes crossed just as the Moko Takabisha impacted with it.  
  
"Yeaaargh!!!" A voice cried. With the sound of a loud clap, the gatherer split into its two component gatherers. The female one that had been created from Akane began to scream as its body began to vibrate, before exploding in a blast of energy.  
  
"Why that look like Shampoo?" Shampoo asked, surprised.  
  
"I don't know, Great Granddaughter." Cologne told her. "Although I want to know why that other one looks like Happy... if Happy had spent twenty years doing nothing but laying around and eating."  
  
Ranma's mouth dropped in shock as he saw the reaction to his Moko Takabisha. "Why did it explode so violently? None of the other one's I've used the attack on have had that effect." Ranma asked aloud. "Unless... opposite emotion."  
  
Ranma began to think aloud. "If they are formed out of the emotion ki from a person, then they would probably have a counter emotion. That's why the Moko Takabisha was so powerful." Ranma decided. "But... that monster was formed out of the opposite of confidence... and if the other one is from pops, then that one was from... Akane?" Ranma gasped.  
  
The other gatherer, the overweight Happosai look alike, staggered around. Its eyes were glazed, while it tried to make sense of its surroundings. Ranma paused for a second, before he leapt forward.  
  
"Its time for this to end." Ranma told it. In his mind, he recalled almost everything positive that had happened in his life, and the way it made him feel. As the gatherer looked at him, eyes clearing, Ranma began to glow with a cascading rainbow of power.  
  
"Anything Goes, Saotome School spontaneous technique! Open Palm Prismatic Blow!" Ranma yelled as he thrust his open palm into the gatherer's chest, all his ki flowing into his hand. The energy flowed into the gatherer, whose eyes widened gigantically as it felt the power. In an explosion of multicolored energy, the gatherer's strength failed it as it dissipated.  
  
Ranma collapsed to the ground, drained of all emotion. He started to come back to himself as he felt hands shaking him.  
  
"Ranma, Ranma!" Shampoo called to him. "You all right?" She asked as he looked up to her.  
  
Shampoo hugged him, hard. "Shampoo so happy you okay!" She cheerfully said as she pressed her chest to his face.  
  
"Let him breathe, Great Granddaughter." Cologne said. With a pout, Shampoo let go, causing Ranma to fall backwards before scrambling to his feet.  
  
He turned, just in time to see Elion raggedly hold up his hand and disappear. "Looks like he got away." Ranma muttered. He turned to the Senshi, who were panting from all of their exertions.  
  
"It's nice to see you fighting and all, but how did you get here so fast?" Ranma asked them.  
  
"Well... we have special powers that let us home in on evil?" Sailor Moon suggested nervously.  
  
"Oh, that makes sense." Ranma said. He peered at Jupiter. "But you look awfully familiar. I could have sworn I've seen you before. Before I had seen you, I mean. As in before the first fight." He told her. She shook her head violently. "Oh, okay. Just checking." Ranma said.  
  
Ranma then remembered the entire reason he had come after Elion in the first place. "Akane! Pops! I have to go see if they are all right! See you later, old lady!" He exclaimed, before landing on top of a roof in a mighty leap. Bouncing from roof to roof, he was soon lost to the sight of the Senshi.  
  
Cologne eyed the Senshi as Ranma left. "So, you are the famous Sailor Senshi," She said to them.  
  
"That's right! We are the Sailor Senshi! We fight for love and justice and punish evil in the name of the moon!" Sailor Moon exclaimed cheerfully.  
  
"Right, you wouldn't happen to be from a certain kingdom that existed several thousand years ago, would you?" Cologne asked Sailor Moon.  
  
Moon's eyes widened. "How did..." She said, before putting on an expression of innocence. "Nope, not at all." She said, sweating.  
  
Cologne laughed. "Well, that answers that question. Feel free to come down to the Cat Café anytime... I have some questions I'm curious about. I'll even give you lunch for free," Cologne told them. "Go ahead and come without your transformations. That disguise field you all have is quite nice, but not powerful enough to block my vision." With a hop onto her staff, Cologne bounced away, Shampoo following close behind.  
  
"That is one scary old woman." Mars said.  
  
"I don't know. She seemed kind of friendly." Moon protested. They all looked up on the roof where Elion had been as they heard a groaning sound. "Who's that?"  
  
The Senshi leapt on top of the roof, Moon stumbling as she saw what had made the sound. "Mamo-chan!" Moon exclaimed, rushing to his side. She carefully set Chibi-Moon down beside him and cradled his head. "What happened to you?" She asked as his eyes flickered open.  
  
Tuxedo Kamen's eyes widened. "Usako, you're alive?" He asked, shocked.  
  
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Moon asked him. Tuxedo Kamen stared at her as if she was crazy.  
  
"When I came, you were surrounded by an immense dark energy! I fought Elion, but couldn't beat him. I was knocked out in the fight. I had thought you were dead." He said. "I'm happy that you are all right." He said, hugging her.  
  
Moon braced herself and pulled Tuxedo Kamen to his feet. "Mars, can you carry Chibi-Moon, please?" Moon asked her. Mars nodded and picked up the young Senshi.  
  
"What happened to her?" Tuxedo Kamen asked, concerned.  
  
"She got knocked out, kind of like you did." Venus said. "She should be awake soon."  
  
Tuxedo Kamen nodded. "All right, lets get out of here. The people should be waking up soon." He said, before leaping off the building.  
  
As the others prepared to follow him, Jupiter held back. "You guys go ahead and go, I still need to talk to Ranma." She said.  
  
"Why?" Moon asked her. Jupiter looked down at her feet.  
  
"I need to find out what is going on. That Akane girl I talked to mentioned several other girls who were after him. I need to find out the truth. That hug the purple haired girl gave him was a bit more than friendly. Maybe I don't have a chance after all. But I refuse to leave without trying. I've spent far too long thinking about him to just leave without knowing the truth." Jupiter explained.  
  
The others nodded. "Okay, we will leave you alone then." Moon said.  
  
"Make sure to call us if you need us. We will be back in no time." Mercury promised.  
  
Jupiter nodded as the other Senshi leapt off the building. After a few seconds of thought, Jupiter leapt off as well, looking around before detransforming back to Makoto.  
-  
Ranma arrived at the Tendo dojo to see Soun trying to reattach the door to the house. Upon sighting Ranma, energy billowed around him forming into the legendary scare tactic, Demon Head.  
  
"RANMA! WHERE WERE YOU!?" The massive head of energy yelled at Ranma, causing him to skitter backwards.  
  
"I was trying to get the person who hurt everyone!" Ranma protested. The demon head paused for a second, before fading away. "Where were YOU anyways!?" Ranma demanded of Soun, who began to look nervous.  
  
"Well... I was helping Kasumi get groceries. No problem with that is there?" He asked quickly.  
  
"You mean you left the house as soon as you knew Akane wanted to cook." Ranma said. He moved past the Tendo patriarch and through the broken down door. The first thing he heard was an immense bellowing. Following the sound, he found his father, in panda form, still on the floor and still sleeping.  
  
"I can't believe this. The old man really CAN sleep through everything." Ranma muttered. "Kasumi?" Ranma called.  
  
"Ranma, you're back." He heard Kasumi say. "Do you mind checking on Akane? I put her to bed, and I'm too busy trying to clean up this mess."  
  
"Uh, sure thing." He called, before heading up the stairs to Akane's room. He slowly opened the door and peaked inside. With nothing flying his way, he opened the door and walked over to Akane's bed. She shifted restlessly at his approach, and opened her eyes.  
  
"How are you doing, tomboy?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Ranma..." Akane said. "I'm so tired. This strange man came. I don't know what happened, just that I have never felt so tired in my life."  
  
"Don't worry. I took care of him." Ranma said. "Don't know why he bothered with you, though."  
  
"Ranma!" Akane growled, before sighing. "I'm too tired. Go hit yourself with my desk, I can't do it properly myself. Just... leave quietly." Akane said, yawning, before closing her eyes and rolling over.  
  
Ranma tip toed out of the room and closed the door behind him. "Hope you get better soon, Akane." He whispered. "I gotta go find Makoto now."  
-  
"That was a colossal failure... Elion." A multi toned voice stated. Elion could not see the source. All around him was an impenetrable blackness.  
  
"I threatened to rip you apart and drain your energies. Unfortunately, you don't even have anything left worth draining. As such, consider yourself dismissed. Maybe someday I will have a use for you. Until that day, I don't want to ever see you again." The voice finished.  
  
Elion collapsed to the ground and bowed. "Thank you for your mercy, Master!" He exclaimed  
  
"It is hardly mercy." The voice said. "Leave, now!" It thundered. Elion vanished.  
  
"You really didn't decide to destroy him?" A female voice asked.  
  
"He did serve a purpose... Zandain. You were able to grab quite a bit of energy, enough to recoup from our losses while our enemy was distracted. However, we now have to design a new type of gatherer. That young man possesses a great power, enough to easily destroy one of our current gatherers." The multi toned voice said.  
  
"I'll get right on it." The female voice said, before there was silence. 


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma or Sailor Moon. Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma and Naoko Takeuchi owns Sailor Moon.

Thanks to prereaders: Kuno Baby and Ranger5.

Do I have a late excuse? Um... no. Sheer procrastination and writer's block. However, the next chapter is actually coming along pretty good, so it shouldn't take as long.

Now that I have seen Sailor Stars, anyone care to explain where the whole concept of evil bitch queen Setsuna comes from?

Meh, took 10 mins to actually access quick edit. Maybe I'll post from the computer lab from now on.

Chapter 6

----------------------------------

"Do you know what happened, Ranma? Why was Akane unconscious when we got here?" Kasumi asked Ranma as he came down the stairsthe concern she felt seemed to create a nearly tangible force as she worried about her "family".

"Well... an energy sucking..." Ranma paused. What was Elion? "Demon came into the house and drained her energy. I beat up another demon, but the main one got away." Ranma finished.

"Oh... oh my. A demon?" Kasumi asked. "Ranma, your friends are nice and all, but I have to draw the lines at demons. They just don't belong in a home like this." Kasumi told him.

Ranma nodded, not even taken aback by her lack of shock. "I agree totally, Kasumi. If I see another one, I'll be sure to pound it before it gets inside." Ranma stated.

---------------------------------------------------------

"That would be nice of you." Kasumi nodded. "Could you explain something else to me?" She asked, pointing at the kitchen.

Ranma looked at her curiously before taking a peek inside. "Oh man, it looks like a bomb went off in here!" Ranma exclaimed.

The kitchen was a mess. Dishes created a huge stack in the sink. Small bits of several varieties of sauces made large globs on the floor, while pots and pans were all over the place.

"So why is my kitchen a disaster zone?" Kasumi asked levelly, pinning Ranma with a look that on anyone else would've been angry, but on Kasumi simply showed concern.

Ranma shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, Akane was cooking in here, at least before she got her energy drained. She probably made a bit of a mess trying to cook." Ranma explained.

"Ranma, I know my sister is a... not so great cook, but even she normally doesn't do this bad. Something must have really upset her." Kasumi said. "I care deeply about my family, and I want to know what would cause her to do something on this scale. Do you have any idea?" Kasumi asked, concerned.

"Well..." Ranma began nervously. "My old girlfriend kinda came for a visit..." Ranma finished, head bowed and eyes on the floor.

"Your... old girlfriend?" Kasumi asked slowly. "Ranma, I didn't even think you had been around women. When did this happen?"

Ranma shuffled his feet. "Well, I kinda saw her practicing martial arts one day. Challenged her to a spar. She was pretty good. Then she cooked me some of the best food I had ever tasted." Ranma said.

"Really? Is she a good cook?" Kasumi asked as her interest peaked.

"Yeah, she was one of the best as far as I knew. Not as good as you, but close. Anyways, I didn't really know anyone, so we started hanging out, and then she just declared us boyfriend and girlfriend one day." Ranma finished.

"I see..." Kasumi trailed off. "Do you still have feelings for her?" Kasumi probed.

Ranma took a step back, hands raised wardingly. "What kinda question is that!?" He demanded.

"How do you feel about your engagement to Akane?" Kasumi continued.

Ranma began to take several steps back before Kasumi raised her hands in submission. "You don't need to answer. Just... you need to think about things before acting. I know that it is a problem for you, but can you try?" Kasumi pleaded her eyes showing nearly as much feeling for Ranma as her little sister.

Ranma gulped. "I'll try." He promised. "I have to go find Makoto now. I got sidetracked by the monster I fought. She is probably wondering where I went, and I don't trust her alone here." Ranma said, beginning to scoot out of the room.

"Go ahead and go." Kasumi saidwith a small sigh. "I have to clean this kitchen before I can make dinner." Kasumi turned on the faucet and began to get to work on the stack of dishes.

"Don't make me dinner! I'll probably be eating somewhere else." Ranma called as he left the kitchen. Kasumi nodded, not taking her eyes off of the dishes.

"What am I gonna do??" Ranma moaned to himself as he slid open the door to the Tendo house. Just in time to get a pair of knuckles in the head, hard. "OW!" He yelled, his hands rushing up to his head, holding it in pain.

"Ranma! I'm sorry!" Makoto exclaimed. "I was about to knock when you opened the door!" She began to examine him but he waved her off.

"Just... ow! Try not to do it again." Ranma muttered. As the pain swiftly faded away, having struck an area that was quite used to blunt trauma, he focused on the next item of the agenda.

"Um, look, why don't we take a walk? We gotta talk about some things and I don't wanna do it here." Ranma requested.

Makoto nodded happily. 'He wants to go for a walk! We'll be back together in no time!' She mentally crowed to herself.

---------------------------

"Are you sure we can't go watch her?" Usagi begged. Rei shook her head in exasperation.

"Usagi, she caught us once already. To try again would probably make her mad." Rei told her.

Ami looked up from the book she was reading. "Besides, spying is wrong." She said with conviction.

Minako sidled up to her. "Then why were you the first in line, Ami?" She asked slyly.

Ami blushed and quickly looked down at her book, pretending to read.

"Look at all the bunnies." Chibi-Usa moaned from the bed she was laying on. Instantly, the other Senshi stood around the bed, looking at her anxiously.

"Usagi? What happened? Why does my head hurt so much?" Chibi-Usa asked, wincing as her head throbbed.

"You got hit pretty hard." Rei said. "Now, um, can you detransform? We couldn't do it for you, and I don't want my grandpa coming in and seeing Sailor Chibi-Moon lying in one of our beds."

Chibi-Usa thought about nodding, but the pounding in her head made that thought run for the hills. In a flash, her sailor uniform disappeared, while the school outfit she had been wearing before reappeared.

Mamoru walked in the room carrying a tray with soup and a large glass of water on it. "You're awake!" He said, before setting the tray on the table by the bed. "How are you?" Mamoru asked, concerned.

"My head hurts a lot. I guess I'm okay otherwise, though." Chibi-Usa told him. She turned to the other Senshi and asked, "Where's Mako-chan?"

"She's trying to make up with Ranma." Usagi said. "Now you better get to sleep. You took a big hit to the noggin."

Chibi-Usa yawned. "Okay. I don't feel like getting up anyway..." She trailed off, her eyes closing. 'I'm sure they don't need me anyways. And Mako-chan can do this one by herself.' With one last burst of thought, Chibi-Usa's breathing leveled out as she fell asleep again

"I'll take her to my house. You guys should see if Luna and Artemis found anything out." Mamoru said.

"That's a good idea, Mamo-chan. C'mon guys, lets go see if they finally got us something useful that hasn't already been covered by the Mercury computer." Usagi said to the rest of the Senshi as Mamoru carefully picked up Chibi-Usa.

"Call me if you need anything, Usako." Mamoru said to Usagi. She nodded, and all together they left the shrine.

-------------------------------------

Ranma and Makoto walked in silence. For Ranma, it was simply the inability to come up with anything to say. Makoto was waiting patiently, both hoping for and dreading the words Ranma might speak.

Finally, Ranma decided that he needed to say something. He had asked her to walk with him, so it was up to him to get things done.

"Look, Makoto. Here's how it is. I have two fiancées. Not only that, but another girl wants to marry me because of some stupid law of her people, but she is honor bound to follow it, the same way I'm honor bound to marry the other two." Ranma stated.

"I've been wondering that. Just how on earth did you end up with two fiancées?" Makoto asked. "I mean, even if one is arranged, how did you get two?"

A look of annoyance crossed Ranma's face. "Blame it on pops. He engaged me and a member of the Tendo family back before I was even born. Then the other girl, Ukyo, my dad engaged me to in order to get their okonomiyaki cart, which was the dowry. Pops, being who he was, took me with him and ran off with it. I was too young to know any better." Ranma finished.

Makoto frowned. "What about the other one? How did you end up engaged to her?"

Ranma shrugged. "She's a Chinese Amazon. They have this weird law that if a male outsider defeats one of their warriors in combat, they have to marry. She chased me back to Japan. Eventually, her great grandmother came along as well. We had some fights, but she has kinda left me alone lately. She even helps out sometimes." Ranma explained.

Makoto nodded. 'That would probably be that one girl who was hugging him.' Makoto thought to herself. 'And that old woman would be her great grandmother then.'

"Anyway, that's the size of it. I already have more women than I can deal with after me. So there is no reason for you to stay." Ranma said with finality.

Makoto winced. 'That does sound pretty bad. Although...' She thought. She spoke aloud, "Well then, what's one more?"

"And... what?" Ranma blinked, confused.

"Just what would one more girl after you mean? Not much, would it?" Makoto asked. "But for me, it would make me a lot happier. You are the only boyfriend I've ever had!" Makoto exclaimed. Ruefully, she thought, 'Although it certainly isn't for lack of trying.'

Ranma stared at Makoto, stupefied. "But... but..." Ranma stuttered. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "But I already have enough women after me! Adding another one would make things twice as bad! Besides I don't believe someone as pretty and nice as you hasn't had lots of boys ...**,"** He weakly protested. "...not to mention you're a great cook. You could have found someone else a long time ago.**" **

Makoto flushed, her heart racing as she considered Ranma's words. Then sheshook her head. "None like you." She whispered, before saying aloud, "So there is some competition. It's not that bad. I mean, what problems could I cause you?" Makoto demanded.

Ranma felt a cold feeling surge through his veins. 'This is hopeless!' He screamed mentally to himself. 'If I don't do something, she'll be hanging around all the time! Adding another martial artist to the girl mix is treading on dangerous ground. Think Ranma, think!' Ranma blared mentally.

"Ranma, what's wrong? You look like the world is about to end." Makoto asked, worried.

'I know! I'll just show her what she would be getting in to! Once she sees how crazy this place is, she'll have to leave!' Ranma thought in triumph.

"Makoto, why don't I give you a tour of the town? Show you the sights?" Ranma asked, smirking.

Makoto stared at him. "That was an awfully quick way to change the subject. What's with that smirk?" She asked slowly, as things weren't adding up quite right

"Errr, nothing!" Ranma said hastily. "C'mon, follow me!" Ranma exclaimed, before hopping onto a roof and bouncing away. Makoto stood in shook, while Ranma hopped back and off the building. "Forgot you couldn't do that." Ranma muttered. He grabbed her arm and took off, leaving dust trails in his wake.

--------------------------------------------

"Ranma, you're going too fast!" Makoto exclaimed, almost being dragged along by the pigtailed martial artist. Ranma didn't reply. However, it was only a few seconds before he skidded to a stop, his feet digging into the ground. Makoto hurled ahead of him, but managed to stop herself before falling.

"What's the big idea!?" Makoto yelled at him, puffing for breath.

"Eh, I wanted to show you around." Ranma said while tugging on his pigtail.

"What's the rush?" Makoto demanded. "We go from talking about you and I to me being dragged at rapid velocities that I don't think I could match even at my best."

Ranma smirked. "Well, I didn't want to miss the, um, parade." He said. He cupped a hand over one of his ears. "Should be any minute now." Ranma declared.

Makoto raised an eyebrow. "A parade?" She asked. "Ranma, how did we get from talking about us to talking about a parade?" Makoto wondered.

"Uh, well I figured you would be interested in seeing it." Ranma explained hurriedly.

Makoto opened her mouth again but just then the ground started to tremble. Loud screams and shouts began to float in on the wind. Makoto turned her head, listening intently. "Is this the sound of the parade? Sounds more like some kind of monster is attacking people." Makoto told Ranma.

Ranma shrugged. "Well... not exactly a parade... and not exactly a monster... although some times I wonder. Here they come!" Ranma exclaimed, stepping in front of Makoto but not obscuring her vision. Makoto's jaw dropped as she was treated to a sight that was quite rare outside of Nerima.

"What a haul!" Happosai exclaimed, his small body blurring along the ground, with a sack several times as large as he was hanging off of his shoulder. Behind him rose a trail of dust, the silhouettes of women wielding various instruments of pervert punishment following swiftly behind.

"I think I'll just let him ignore me today." Ranma muttered as the so-called 'Parade' traveled past them at rapid speeds. Ranma looked at Makoto, who was staring at where the old pervert and women had run past. 'That should do it.' Ranma thought to himself.

Makoto shook her head. 'Weird people.' She thought to herself before turning to Ranma. "Was that the parade? Why did you want me to see that?" She asked confused.

Ranma sighed. 'Maybe I shouldn't have let her think it was planned. Thinking more than five seconds should help next time.' Ranma mentally berated himself. "No reason. I just thought it would mean something to you." Ranma explained to her.

"Eh? Like what? I've never seen any of them before. What's the significance?" The brown haired girl asked, confused.

Ranma shook his head. "Never mind. Hey, tell you what, why don't I buy you dinner?" He asked, smiling at her.

Makoto beamed at him. "That would be very nice of you! But why are you jumping around so much?" She asked. Ranma waved his hand, pretending not to hear the question.

"Come on. There is a good place right around here." He said, lightly walking along the ground. Makoto followed behind him, walking past a block of buildings, before Ranma stopped them.

Makoto looked up at the small shack, her eyes freezing on the sign to the building that read, "Cat Café."

"Erk." Makoto said intelligently as Ranma grabbed her arm and started pulling her inside the building.

"Ranma! You come see me again already!" The cheerful, chirpy voice that Makoto had heard earlier that day came closer, as the purple haired Amazon cheerfully ran over to Ranma, grabbing him in a fierce hug.

"Shampoo! Get offa me!" Ranma exclaimed automatically, grabbing her by the shoulders and prying her off. Shampoo let go, before grabbing on his arm, only to notice that his arm happened to be connected to his hand that happened to be holding another arm. Shampoo hopped backwards, appraising the new arrival.

"Who brown haired girl?" Shampoo demanded.

"This is Makoto Kino." Ranma said, introducing her.

Makoto bowed. "Pleased to meet you." Makoto said.

Shampoo frowned. "Shampoo have tables to wait. Shampoo talk to Ranma, later." Shampoo said in a low voice, turning sharply on her heel and moving to attend to a married couple that had been waiting for several minutes.

Ranma exhaled his breath. 'Maybe taking her here wasn't such a good idea. I don't need a knock down drag out fight on my hands.' Ranma thought to himself.

Makoto frowned at the Amazon as she moved away. 'This is actually looking pretty bad.' Makoto finally admitted to herself. 'But I have to be strong! I won't get anywhere by not trying!' Makoto thought, firming her determination.

"Well, Ranma, what brings you here?" Cologne asked from the counter she was sitting on. Makoto gulped as Cologne's eyes fixed on her, narrowing for a second, before moving on to Ranma.

"I kinda wanted to get something to eat." Ranma explained. "I don't know how long it will take Kasumi to clean the kitchen, and I'm hungry now." Ranma said as he sat down in a chair. Makoto slowly pulled out another chair and sat in it.

Shampoo walked over to them, while Cologne waited silently for them to order. "What you want, Ranma?" Shampoo asked him sweetly.

"I'll take two ramen bowls." Ranma told her. "What did you want, Makoto?" He asked.

"Um, I'll just have one ramen bowl, please." Makoto said politely. Ranma nodded to Shampoo, who sighed before moving away to drop the order off in the kitchens.

"So who is this?" Cologne asked conversationally, pointing her staff at the girl sitting next to Ranma.

"This is Makoto Kino. I've known her for about two years." Ranma said. 'Alright ghoul, stick to form now.' Ranma thought to himself.

"Two years, huh?" Cologne said studying the brown haired girl, who gulped nervously. Cologne gave her a reassuring, yet horrible, smile, and turned back to Ranma, while Makoto let out the breath she had been holding in. "So why did you come here with her?" Cologne asked.

"Well, I wanted to show her around." Ranma explained.

"So, you are new around here?" Cologne asked Makoto, who nodded.

"I live in Juuban. I just came here to visit Ranma." Makoto stated.

Cologne nodded. "What have you seen so far?" She asked.

Makoto frowned. "Well, Ranma showed me what he called a parade. A bunch of women were chasing some strange old man who was even smaller than Rei's grandfather." Makoto said. "Then we came directly here."

Cologne raised an eyebrow as she looked at Ranma, who stared at the ceiling and twiddled his thumbs. "Really." Cologne said. She lifted her staff into the air as three bowls of ramen flew towards her. In a flash of motion, she took the force out of them and delivered them to the table using her staff. "Well, enjoy you're meal. This one is on the house." Having said that, Cologne hopped over to Shampoo, whispered something into her ear, and headed upstairs. Shampoo glowered but didn't say anything in return.

"Thank you, Ranma. This was really nice of you." Makoto said.

"Uh, yeah, it was I guess..." Ranma said, a sickly smile on his face. 'The ghoul really let me down this time! No threats, no attacks, no nothing. What am I supposed to do now?' Ranma thought to himself.

They ate their ramen in silence. Makoto with a contented smile, and Ranma with his face screwed into an expression of thought. At least, an expression that looked somewhat thoughtful, since Ranma was stuffing his face with ramen. Makoto was forced to eat at an incredible pace to keep up. She wasn't surprised, however, since she had seen him eat many times before. Although he seemed to be eating slower.

Ranma finished his ramen nervously. The ghoul hadn't done anything aside from chatting a bit. Ranma's eyes shifted back and forth. He was still hoping for a surprise assault, from which he could grab Makoto and escape, convincing her never to come around the crazy part of the city again. Unfortunately, even after his ramen was gone, none seemed forthcoming. Cologne had come back down and was still serving ramen, acting for all the world as if a threat to Shampoo didn't exist.

Makoto finally finished her ramen, and sighed loudly in contentment. 'If this isn't a date, I don't know what is.' She thought smiling to herself. Ranma noticed that she was done and stood up. Makoto followed suit, while she stretched and yawned. Ranma sighed as he led the way out of the store and halfheartedly checked the shadows, but didn't see anything to his disappointment.

Makoto looked up to the sky as the sun went down below the horizon. "I should probably be getting back now." Makoto said.

"Uh, yeah. That would be a good idea." Ranma said lamely.

Makoto smiled at him. "I had a lot of fun. Thank you." She said.

Ranma scuffed his feet on the ground while saying, "Ah, no problem. I should be getting home too."

Makoto nodded. "I'll come out and visit you again!" She exclaimed cheerfully. Ranma glumly nodded. With a wave, Makoto took off in a sprint, smiling widely.

Ranma sighed, and began to walk back to the Tendo's. 'Well, that was a bust.' Ranma thought to himself. 'I suppose it could be worse. Ukyo and everyone else could find out. Although if she comes over any more, I'm going to be in trouble.'

Ranma suddenly stopped as a chilling thought ran through his mind. 'Oh no! If Nabiki found out... I've been lucky so far, but this could be a disaster.' Ranma said mentally. 'Maybe I could,' Ranma paused in his thoughts. 'Maybe I could just let things sort themselves out?' Ranma wondered. 'Maybe I should just wait, and then see what I can do?'

Ranma sighed. "Right, and next I'll go beat down the old pervert, take on a dragon, and solve all the fiancée problems." He said aloud. "If this keeps up, I'll have to get some expert advice. And there aren't very many 'experts' around here." Ranma shrugged to himself.

"'Let tomorrow take care of itself,' some wise person said." Ranma stated. "I'm tired. I'll just figure it out tomorrow." He said, before heading inside the Tendo Household that he had been standing outside for several minutes.

-------------------------------------------------

"I haven't gotten all that much more data than was collected by the Mercury Computer." Luna said as she sat on one of the high stools in front of an arcade machine. Rather than a game, there was a large volume of text and information scrolling down the screen.

"Let's hear what you have." Rei said to Luna.

"Well, composition wise, these enemies seem to be made out of the energy they absorb, rather than being sustained by it. That's why the Mercury computer has been returning such high amounts of energy when scanned." Luna explained.

"That explains it. What about Elion? My computer couldn't quite scan him, although it gave him a very hi 'ki' value, higher than Ranma's." Ami asked.

Rei sighed and shook her head. "All our enemies that drain energy are utilizing ki, just tainted by darkness. The reason he had so much is because he took it from others, rather than producing it himself. By the way he held it he is either human or something similar." Rei said.

Luna nodded her furry head. "He appeared to be a human with a massive amount of power that in no way could have been produced by him." Luna stated. "As for any other information... they appear to be vulnerable to attacks utilizing opposing ki, although what constitutes opposing I have no idea. And... well... I'm going to go out on a limb and say that he has a leader somewhere and he isn't the last one." Luna decided.

The Senshi grinned. "It never ends after just one." Minako said. The others nodded in agreement.

Artemis' head popped up from in front of one of the arcade consoles. "I haven't done much better on the tactical side. Elion had around the same level of control as the dark generals of Beryl, just with more power and less intelligence. Although that void bomb spell was really nasty." Artemis said.

"If it wasn't for Ranma, it would have gotten us." Usagi said. "What exactly did Ranma do to get us out of it?" Usagi asked curiously.

Artemis concentrated on his screen for a second. "Well, all he really did was perform some motions and create a tornado. A spiral motion, combined with energy and heat, and a corkscrew uppercut thrust upwards were all that it seems to need. Although the uppercut has to be cold. I don't know how he could develop something like that unless he had the power to pull it off long enough to try it out." Artemis said.

Luna sighed. "We have seen that he has plenty of power for a human. I'm glad he isn't tainted by darkness, although I would love to know how simple martial arts training can produce that kind of power." Luna muttered.

Rei shrugged. "It would have to horrific training if its just pure martial arts. I get my ability to use ki through spiritual training, and I can't project it like that." Rei explained.

Artemis nodded. "Anyway, I've created a method for Sailor Mercury and Mars to potentially duplicate the attack. I had to use a scientific analysis to figure this out. If you combine a hot opponent and perform the cold uppercut using your ice powers, you might be able to duplicate the attack. All you have to do is lead them in a spiral pattern, and hit it. I can't guarantee its power, however. I also have no easy way for you to train for it." Artemis said to everyone else.

Ami pursed her lips. "So that powerful move was simply created on the fundamentals of hot and cold air, and the tornado? Ranma must be pretty smart in order to figure out something like that." She said.

Minako raised her eyebrows. "He didn't seem all that smart to me. Especially when he burned Mako-chan." Minako said.

Usagi shushed her with her hands. "Let's just leave that out of this." She turned back to Artemis and Luna, and asked, "Any other useful information?"

Both Artemis and Luna shook their heads. "You might ask Ranma next time you get into a fight what kind of move he used to obliterate that last gatherer." Artemis suggested. "Other than that, I think it's time to get home before any of your parents begin to worry."

Usagi grinned nervously. "Eh heh heh... its past bedtime isn't it." She said more than asked. Luna and Artemis nodded solemnly. In a flash, she picked up Luna and barreled out the door, running along at high speeds. In a mere second she was gone.

The others sighed as the watched her leave. "You'd think she didn't want to keep this a secret, as much noise as she is making." Rei said. The others merely nodded.

End Chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma or Sailor Moon. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Naoko Takeuchi, respectively.

Yeah, I'm quite late… well, here it is. Basically, this is The Chapter That Would Not Start. Writer's block killed me for quite a while. Finally managed to get through it, though :)

I'm going to be writing the next chapter as if it was a part of this chapter, just split, so it should be out quickly. I know I said that before, but I mean it this time! Honestly..... oh heck :P

Thanks to prereaders: Kuno-Baby and Ranger5.

I'd also like to thank J. St.C. Patrick of  
Chapter 7   
-------------------------------------------------  
Nodoka Saotome sighed wistfully as she collected the bags of groceries that she had just bought. "Looks like I will have to visit the bank again." She said as she carried the groceries from where she had been sitting. Having had to scrounge around in her pockets for change, Nodoka had realized that the supply of cash was starting to run low. Nodoka shook her head and decided to worry about it when she didn't have groceries to cart around. Carrying the three gigantic bags of groceries for too long was too much of an effort for her, however. As such, she had sat down on a bench to catch her breath.

Generally she had enough money. Her husband had left her a large sum of cash when he left. He claimed that he had worked for it, although she had been skeptical. Still, wherever it came from, it had served to keep her out of debt while waiting for her husband to finally return. Unfortunately, ten years was a very long time, even with Nodoka's attempt to stretch it and earn more money.

Nodoka took several deep breathes before standing and dusting off her kimono. She picked up the groceries again and proceeded on her way. As Nodoka moved along, trying to keep all the groceries from falling out of her hands, her thoughts once again turned musingly to her missing husband and son. 'I wonder how they are doing? I stopped receiving letters, but I don't think my husband would just fold over because of some magic springs,' Nodoka thought to herself. She had thought about it often, wondering exactly why she had stopped receiving letters after her husband and son had gone to train at some magical springs.

'Maybe the magical springs did them in.' Nodoka thought to herself. It was a line of reasoning she had started down after not hearing word for several weeks after her husband and son were supposed to visit the springs. Once upon a time, she wouldn't have believed in magic. Of course… a year of magical monstrosities and magical girls running around the town had pretty much disabused her of that notion. 'No, that can't have been. I have to see them again.' Nodoka thought determinedly to herself, refusing to even think along those lines.

A short distance away from the worrying mother, a girl somewhat related to the matter at hand happily bounced along the road. It had been three days since Makoto had been in Nerima, and she was eager to get back. Unfortunately for her, she had been too busy to go the day before, and was planning on making up for that fact by bringing Ranma some of the cooking he had enjoyed a couple years before. Of course, she didn't know the great amount of good cooking Ranma had been subjected to in that time but, fortunately for her, Makoto's food wasn't drugged like a certain Amazon or gymnast's so often was.

As Makoto rounded a corner, her daydreams were rudely interrupted as she came face first against several large bags of groceries. Had either of the two involved been paying attention, they could have avoided what befell. Unfortunately, Nodoka was as wrapped up in her thoughts as Makoto, and as such both ran straight into each other, with Makoto losing her balance and falling over, accidentally taking Nodoka down with her.

"AAAHH!" Nodoka exclaimed as the girl crashing into her over balanced her. Nodoka fell backwards, landing on the pavement with a thump. The bags she was precariously holding flew out of her hands, spilling various food items onto the ground.

Makoto landed to the side of Nodoka, her hands unclenching as she hit the ground. Makoto had been carrying something as well, but as per the rules according to Murphy, that something left her fingers and fell to the ground. A rather large cake soon landed facedown in the pavement, ending its fitness for human consumption as bits of frosting splattered all over the ground.

Makoto growled as she saw the fate of her cake. She quickly pushed herself to her feet to take stock of the situation. Her cake was ruined. The lady she had knocked over was getting up, and had apparently dropped several bags of groceries. Makoto sighed as the good mood she had been holding collapsed all around her.

"Sorry," Makoto apologized as she offered a hand to the downed lady. Makoto felt that she should have been angrier, but her recent experience with Ranma was still hovering over her like a cloud that refused to be dispelled. The lady on the ground grabbed a hold of Makoto's hand and pulled herself to her feet.

"No, I should be the one apologizing." Nodoka stammered. "I'm afraid I was too wrapped up in my thoughts. My groceries didn't really help me, either." Nodoka kneeled down and started to put all of the dropped groceries back into their bags. Makoto knelt down and started to help.

"Was that your cake?" Nodoka asked, pointing to the cake that had broken on the ground. Seeing Makoto's sullen nod, Nodoka frowned. "Well, this won't do. I've caused you to ruin what looked to be a perfectly good cake. How about you come to my house and I'll help you bake another one?"

Makoto stood, backed up and shook her head. "No, that's all right. The cake wasn't that important," Makoto muttered.

Nodoka blinked at her as she continued stuffing food into the bags. Most of the food was packed, so it wouldn't get dirty. "Are you sure? It's my fault that you dropped the cake," Nodoka said.

Makoto moved past Nodoka while saying, "It was just going to be a present. It's nothing much."

Nodoka stared at her as she walked past. "A present? I truly am sorry."

Makoto shrugged. "I'll just have to find something else to give him."

"Ah, so it was a present for a boy, then?" Nodoka asked.

Makoto glared at her. "Not that it's any of your business, but yes." Makoto said, before sighing heavily. "I'm really sorry. It's just that it was a present for someone who I hadn't seen in a long time, and I've just now found him."

Nodoka nodded. "I understand. I know how it feels not to see someone you love for a very long time. Well, except I haven't had the feeling of finding them again. I really miss my son, Ranma." Nodoka said quietly. "I'd like to apologize again. Cherish the one you've found." Hefting her groceries, Nodoka turned around, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"Hmm?" Nodoka queried as she looked over at Makoto's startled, wide-eyed face.

"Did you say Ranma?" Makoto asked her. When she saw Nodoka's hesitant nod, Makoto continued, "Ranma Saotome?"

Nodoka looked startled. "Why, yes. I'm Nodoka Saotome. I've been looking for my son that I haven't seen in ten years. Do you know him?" Nodoka asked.

Makoto shuffled her feet on the ground as she realized just who it was she had been rude to. "Um, yeah." Makoto said, nervous. "You see… well, he was the one I was going to give that cake to."

Nodoka grabbed Makoto's shoulders and stared at her, their faces inches apart. "You know where my son is right now?" Nodoka asked desperately. Seeing Makoto's quick nod, Nodoka's face broke into a great smile lighting her formerly somber features like the sun breaking from behind a storm cloud. "This is wonderful!" Nodoka exclaimed as she let go of Makoto and started dancing around, the groceries she had had problems carrying just moments before suddenly giving her no difficulty.

Makoto stared as the downtrodden woman was seemingly infused with vitality. "Um, Mrs. Saotome…" Makoto began. The skipping woman stopped bouncing around and blushed heavily.

"I'm sorry," Nodoka said as she blushed. "Its just that I haven't heard any word of him for a while, and now I find that someone knows where he is. And even better, he has to be nearby!" Nodoka exclaimed, triumphant.

"Yeah, he's in the Nerima ward," Makoto said. "In fact, since I was going to head over there, you could come with me!" Makoto said. 'This is Ranma's mother! I didn't know he had a mother… one that was alive anyway, but this is his mother! And I was so rude too!' Makoto screamed to herself.

Nodoka scowled, and shook her head. She pointed down at the smashed cake and said, "Not after what I did to that cake of yours. If it was for my darling Ranma, then it simply wouldn't be proper for me to let this stand. Want to come to my house, and I can help you bake up a new one, while you tell me all about my son?" Nodoka asked in a pleading voice.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt." Makoto agreed, realizing just how much it meant to Ranma's mother.   
-------------------------------------------  
A voice, seemingly composed of several different voices twisting together, echoed across the empty darkness, "Have you succeeded, Zandain?"

A simpler, clearer, female voice returned across the darkness, "Yes, master, I have. It was simple, really. All I had to do was give the gatherers a hard, physical shell. The powers of that young man won't be able to devastate them as long as they aren't damaged too severely."

"I see." The multi toned voice returned. "I trust that it works. I know you would not disappoint me. I have decided to send out the other. What do you think?"

Again, the feminine voice carried across the darkness. "Master, he prefers to be called, 'Soul Fire.'"

The displeased voice responded, "Have you all taken names, then? Very well, I will participate in this foolishness if I must. I must admit these 'names' are a convenient way of singling a being out, if nothing else. Do you think Soul Fire is a good choice?"

The female voice returned strongly, "I think he is the best choice you have. Unless you intend to release Masiev?"

"I think not." The multi toned voice returned. "I do not wish to release Masiev, ever. You know as well as I the potential Masiev has to be counterproductive.

A male voice suddenly echoed through the darkness. "Master, you summoned?" It asked.

"Yes, I have. Soul Fire, you are tasked with collecting the energy we need to live and thrive. Zandain will explain the state of things to you." The multi toned voice responded.

"Yes, master." Two voices rang out simultaneously.   
---------------------------------------------------------------   
Nodoka hummed happily as she flipped through the phone book. The cake was in the oven and Makoto was sitting on a couch. Makoto had already explained how she and Ranma had met, and Nodoka had quickly warmed up to her. It seemed like Ranma was just as manly as she could have ever dreamed. Of course, Genma had kept assuring her of that in his letters, but it never hurt to have a second opinion.

Nodoka picked up her phone and dialed in the number she had just looked up. Nodoka waited patiently as the phone rang, but frowned as she got the answering machine.

As the answering machine beeped, Nodoka sighed and said, "Hello, this is Nodoka. Please tell Genma that I am coming by later today." Nodoka set the phone down with a click.

"Well, I'm sure they won't mind." Nodoka rationalized to herself. "After all, it IS the husband and son I haven't seen for ten years." Nodoka turned and began to move. "Is the cake almost ready, Mako-chan?" Nodoka called to the kitchen.

Makoto's voice responded, "Yeah, it's just about done. I'm taking it out now. It'll be ready to frost after it cools."

Nodoka walked in to the kitchen to see Makoto beginning to make the homemade frosting. It wasn't long before they were finished and Makoto began to frost the cake. Nodoka smiled and grabbed her own frosting and started to help her apply it. They worked soundlessly, each adding their own special touches to the cake.

Soon, it was done. The cake itself was extremely simple. It was simply a rectangular shape covered in frosting, with sprinkles added to it. However, beneath the surface lurked one of the tastiest cakes ever invented by mankind. Nodoka and Makoto were both excellent cooks, and had quickly discovered that their talents in the kitchen meshed quite well together. The result was a cake that looked simple, but tasted heavenly.

"This looks like it will work." Nodoka said pleasantly as she grabbed a box and set the newly made cake inside of it. "I'm sure they will love it."

Makoto nodded, unsure of how to respond. She had been rude to Nodoka before she had known that Nodoka was Ranma's mother, and was regretting it now. 'It looks like she doesn't even care, though.' Makoto thought to herself as she observed Nodoka's happy expression. 'I guess I can't be surprised. I felt much the same way when I first saw Ranma again.'

"Come on, let's head over and see if they are back yet." Nodoka said, picking up the cake and handing it to Makoto, who accepted it wordlessly. Nodoka grabbed her wrapped katana and set it on her shoulder. 'I don't think I'll need this.' Nodoka thought to herself. 'But it never hurts to have a weapon. Now, if only I knew how to use it.' Nodoka thought.

They both exited the house. Nodoka locked the door behind her, and then fell in step behind Makoto, since she didn't know the way there. As they walked along, Nodoka was tongue-tied. She had learned how Makoto and Ranma had met, but hadn't really learned anything else about Ranma, or even Makoto, for that matter.

"So, how is my son?" Nodoka finally asked as the two walked along. "You've seen him recently, right? How is he doing?"

Since Nodoka was behind her, Makoto's frown wasn't visible. "Well, he seemed healthy." Makoto began, before mentally smacking herself. 'Yeah, as healthy as any hyper powered martial arts master can get.' Makoto thought. She continued aloud, "His father must have been a very good teacher. He is one of the best martial artists I have ever seen." Makoto finished.

Nodoka smiled broadly, before her smile dropped. "I guess letting his father take him wasn't a mistake after all." She said softly.

Makoto turned her head to look behind her. "About that… what exactly happened? Just why haven't you seen him for so long?" Makoto asked her.

Nodoka frowned and sighed softly. "Well, about ten years ago, his father wanted to take him on a long training trip. I was against it, but he claimed I would make him weak. After giving me a vow that he would raise Ranma to be a man amongst men, he took Ranma and left. I was kept posted on his travels, but recently the letters stopped coming." Nodoka paused. She walked in silence for several seconds, before continuing, "But it doesn't matter now. After all, they are safe and sound, and I'm sure Ranma is as manly as can be." Nodoka said, smiling brightly.

Makoto nodded. 'I'm not sure what she means, but Ranma is manly by almost anyone's standards.' Makoto thought. She said aloud, "I'm really happy that I ran into you, even if I wasn't at the time. I didn't even know Ranma had a mother, since when I knew him his father was the only one with him. "

"I plan to remedy that." Nodoka said with determination.   
----------------------------------------------  
"Ranchan, is something wrong?" Ukyo inquired of the pigtailed martial artist. Said martial artist was slowly eating an okonomiyaki. "You're only on your second one, and you are eating so slow." Ukyo said, worried. The shop was closed at the moment, but the brown haired chef always kept the equipment ready in case her fiancé stopped by, like right now.

Ranma looked up at the worried chef. He swallowed the piece of okonomiyaki he had been chewing on and said, "Nothin's wrong. I'm just not hungry right now."

Ukyo stared at him, her eyes level with his. "Ranma, that's exactly the point. You live for food. For you to act like this means you either already ate a lot, or there is something wrong."

Ranma shook his head. "Sorry, Ucchan. I think I might be coming down with something," Ranma said. "That might be why I'm not so hungry." Ranma stood off of the stool. "Well, gotta run. You're a real pal, Ucchan," Ranma said, and left the restaurant with a wave.

Ukyo sighed as he walked through the door. "I'm a pal, huh." Ukyo said softly. "I'll still fight my hardest to change that." Ukyo muttered to herself.

Ranma himself was running across the ground. A quick look at the sky had revealed dark gray clouds. Unfortunately, those were the exact kind of clouds Ranma didn't want to see. He sped through the street and, with a quick shout of, "I'm home!" Ranma flew inside the Tendo Home as the first drops of rain started to fall. Upon entering, however, Ranma immediately took several steps back, as the sight of his father tied up and being held down by Soun and Akane. Kasumi wasn't present, while Nabiki just stared at the tied up man with a smirk.

"What's going on?" Ranma asked as his father tried to free himself of his bindings. However, the combined might of Akane and Soun, not to mention the ropes themselves, kept him from getting very far.

"Son, tell them to release me! It's a matter of life or death… for both of us!" Genma exclaimed as he struggled futilely. Soun shook his head as he observed the attempts of his friend to escape.

"Well, someone called and left a message about coming over, and to tell Uncle Saotome that." Akane, who had easily recovered within a day, said. It had been three days since the attack, and Akane had recovered completely.

"Really, Saotome," Soun said disapprovingly. "Have you cheated the entirety of Japan?" Soun asked him.

"No, only half, and some parts of…" Genma said, before shaking his head wildly. "This isn't someone I've cheated!" Genma declared vehemently.

Ranma crossed his arms as Genma gave up and ceased struggling. "Really, pops? Who would be coming for you, then?" Ranma asked.

"Your…" Genma growled out, then shut up. Ranma stared at him.

"My what?" Ranma asked. Genma turned his head to the side, keeping his mouth shut. Soun raised an eyebrow.

"Really, Saotome. Now you have me curious too. His what? His fiancée? No, you wouldn't be so quiet about something like that at this point." Soun said, pondering. "His aunt? His grandmother?" Soun suddenly frowned as a thought struck him. "His mother…?" Soun asked, before he paused, shocked. He got his answer by Genma's renewed struggling.

"Is that it, then? Is Nodoka Ranma's mother?" Nabiki asked the bald, sweating man. Again, he ceased his struggles and gave a sullen nod.

"I have a mother?" Ranma asked, shocked. The possibility had never occurred to him.

"Of course you have a mother!" The bound man shouted at him. "What, do you think I gave birth to you myself? I didn't know about Jusenkyo until we fell in!" Genma shouted at him, then turned green as he realized what he had just said.

Akane smiled broadly. "Well Ranma, it looks like things are finally looking up for you.

Ranma frowned. "My mother…?" He muttered, the idea still too much to handle. Just then, there was a knock at the front of the house. Soun, Nabiki, and Akane all spun and began to head towards the door.

A soft, feminine voice, the same voice as on the answering machine, called out, "Hello? Is anyone home?"

Without anyone holding him down, Genma exclaimed, "Tendo! I'm not here! It's a matter of life or death!" So saying, Genma suddenly burst through the ropes holding him hostage, grabbed Ranma, and dived into the koi pond, taking the surprised martial artist with him.

Both Nodoka and Makoto stood outside the door, waiting anxiously. They had heard a shout from inside, and then a loud splash, and then silence. They were both happy they had managed to get under cover before the storm hit. As they were debating whether to open the door themselves, it suddenly slid open, revealing the mustached face of Soun Tendo.

"Um, hello," Nodoka said, suddenly nervous. Soun gestured, and both of them stepped inside. As they did, they noticed the two girls standing beside him, both with curious expressions on their face. Akane blinked as she saw Makoto, while Makoto was shocked at how different Akane looked. All the anger she had seen before seemed to be gone… at least at the moment.

"Are you Nodoka?" Soun asked her, knowing full well the answer.

Nodoka nodded. "Yes, my name is Nodoka Saotome. This is Makoto Kino… I assume you've met before," Nodoka said.

Akane nodded. "Yeah, we have." She said. Nabiki frowned and gave her a sidelong glance, but didn't say anything.

"Please, come inside." Soun said, gesturing towards the living room. Nodoka nodded and moved inside, Makoto following her. They all sat down, facing each other.

There were several uncomfortable moments of silence, before Nodoka spoke up, saying, "Um… I heard my husband and son were staying here. Is that true?"

Soun nodded slowly. "Yes… it is. However, they have recently gone on a… training mission." Soun said, struck by inspiration.

Akane nodded. "Yeah, they left yesterday. Ranma has to keep up his martial arts, after all." She said, giving a false smile.

Nodoka deflated. "Oh." She said simply.

Makoto frowned as well. "He really isn't here?" She asked, dejected. However, sounds of battle took that moment to echo through the room. "Huh? What's going on?" Makoto asked as she quickly stood up. Nodoka stood as well, and both rushed through the house to where the sounds of battle originated.

Nabiki frowned. "You two had better go after them," She said. "No telling what will happen."

Akane glanced at her. "What about you?" She asked.

Nabiki smirked. "I'll be in my room. I'll be back down in… a while." She said, grinning. Akane frowned at her, but grabbed her father, both of them following after the other two.

Both Nodoka and Makoto had stopped, and were staring at shock at what appeared to be a battle between a small, lithe girl with red hair and a pigtail, and a large panda. Makoto stared as the panda executed a series of punches and threw the girl into a wall. Her hand snaked inside a pocket, feeling the familiar sensation of her henshin stick.

'That panda knows martial arts.' Makoto thought, dumbfounded. 'Is this one a monster as well?' She wondered to herself. At that moment, both the girl and panda realized they were being watched, and turned to the observers.

"Um…" Ranma began, as she saw a woman she had never seen before, as well as Makoto. "Oh, we have guests!" Ranma exclaimed, trying to sound as girlish as possible. The panda shuddered nervously as it saw the one woman he most feared at the moment… his wife, Nodoka.

"Were you just fighting that panda?" Nodoka asked, curious. 'How on earth did a panda become skilled at martial arts?' Nodoka wondered to herself.

"Ah…" Ranma started, before she caught sight of one of Genma's signs, which read, 'If you value your life, you AREN'T Ranma!'

Ranma frowned, but she agreed with him. Makoto was still around, and Ranma would rather be chased than be remembered as a transgender freak by her. "I'm Ranko, and this is my pet panda," Ranko said cheerfully. "Are you looking for someone?"

Makoto stared at Ranko's pigtail and sodden Chinese clothing. "Are you related to Ranma?" She asked.

Ranko shook her head. "Um, no! I just liked the way it looked. I had this style first, but he copied me!" Ranko said quickly.

"As you can see, Ranma isn't here right now." Soun interrupted. "If you like, you could stay for dinner?" Soun asked.

Nodoka nodded. "All right." She agreed. "But I insist that I help cook. Do you want to help too, Mako-chan?" Nodoka asked her. Makoto grimaced. She had forgotten to mention that Akane was Ranma's fiancée. Of course, she had also forgot to mention that Ranma had several, according to Akane.

"Um, sure… if no one else minds." Makoto said quickly. Akane glared at her, but nodded. As they all reentered the home, Ranko and the newly dubbed Mr. Panda following closely behind, Makoto set the box with the cake she had been carrying on the table.

"What's that?" Akane asked, pointing to the box.

"Oh, it's a cake I baked for Ranma. He isn't here, though." Makoto said, frowning. She shrugged. "If you guys want to eat it, it's fine with me." Makoto said.

Akane frowned as she realized that, once again, someone interested in Ranma was a good cook. Before she could comment, however, a slavering Ranko beat her to the punch. "Really!?" Ranko nearly demanded.

Both Nodoka and Makoto backed up as they saw the spirit of hunger made flesh rip open the box, cleanly slice off a piece using her bare hands, and devour the piece of cake within seconds. Before Makoto even realized it, half the cake was gone. As everyone stared at her, Ranko blushed and backed away from the cake.

As everyone else began to eat what remained of the cake, Kasumi chose that instant to speak. "Mrs. Saotome…" She began. "What exactly is that?" Kasumi asked, pointing to the bundle carried over Nodoka's shoulder.

"Oh, this?" Nodoka asked. "It's in case I have to make Ranma go through with his oath," Nodoka said sadly.

Ranko cocked her head curiously at Nodoka. "Oath?" Ranko asked. 'I can't remember making any oath… then again, I can't even remember my mother,' Ranko thought to herself.

Nodoka sighed and withdrew a piece of paper from the kimono she was wearing. "I really didn't want to bring this up," Nodoka said. "But I suppose I have no choice."

Nodoka set the paper on the table. "You see… before Ranma and Genma left, they both made an oath to me. Genma would raise Ranma to be a man amongst men… or they would both have to commit seppuku," Nodoka explained.

There was stunned silence at that proclamation. Ranko grabbed Mr. Panda's arm and dragged him from the room, while everyone else stared at Nodoka.

"Um, Mrs. Saotome, you wouldn't really make him go through with that, would you?" Akane asked, worried. 'If she finds out about the curse…' Akane thought to herself. 'No wonder Mr. Saotome didn't want her to find out!'

In response, Nodoka took the bundle off of her shoulder and removed the cloth. She placed her hand on the hilt and pulled, revealing the gleaming blade of a katana. Nodoka studied the blade, keeping her eyes off of everyone else. "If he has violated his oath, I will humbly serve as his assistant. Once they have taken their lives, I will follow them by slitting my throat with the exact same sword." Nodoka said, determined. Everyone else backed slowly away from her.

"But what does it matter?" Nodoka said with a smile. "I'm sure Ranma won't need to do such a thing. After all, from what Mako-chan has told me, my son is quite manly," Nodoka said, her voice full of cheer.

Soun wiped some sweat off of the side of his head as he said, "Err, yes. Ranma is quite manly. Manly enough to marry my daughter, even."

"Dad!" Akane hissed at her father.

Nodoka raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" Nodoka asked.

Soun cleared his throat. "Well, a while ago, before Ranma was even born, we agreed that our two families should be united, bringing the two schools of Anything Goes together. To that end, Ranma has been engaged to my daughter, Akane, here," Soun said, pointing at the shorthaired tomboy.

"Why don't you mention the OTHER prior engagements, dad?" Akane muttered pointedly.

"What's this?" Nodoka asked of Soun.

Soun frowned. "Well, it appears that Genma had made several such agreements. As it is, Ranma has several fiancées," Soun explained.

Nodoka turned her head to Makoto, who shook her head. "I'm not a fiancée. In fact, I didn't even know he had any fiancées until just recently," Makoto said.

Nodoka put her hand on her chin for a moment, thinking hard. With a big smile, she clapped her hands together and said, "Why, that's wonderful!"

Everyone stared at her. Soun glanced at her sideways and asked, "How is that wonderful?"

Nodoka smiled at him. "Well, Ranma is past the having to find a girl stage… and even better, he has a lot of choices! He must be so manly! I almost want to tear up this contract right now, but I don't think he would ever forgive me for taking his word so lightly."

'I'm sure he wouldn't mind.' Akane thought sourly. How a woman could be so nice but insist on something so harsh boggled her mind.

From her position up the stairs, Nabiki frowned and furrowed her brow. She had already set up some plans to profit from the situation, but this wasn't what she had expected. Nabiki sighed deeply and thought to herself, 'Tell you what, Saotome. I'll go easy on you and give you a fifty percent discount.' Satisfied with her generosity, Nabiki moved back to her room to work on her other plans.  
-------------------------------------------  
"Alright, old man, what have you gotten me into this time?" Ranma demanded as she whacked the panda with a kettle of hot water.

Genma put a finger on his glasses and adjusted them. The shift to panda form always offset them. "Just what she said. In order for her to release you, I had to make a vow that I'd raise you to be a man amongst men, or we'd both commit seppuku," Genma declared. Ranma responded by punching him in the face. "Ow." Genma said simply.

"What am I going to do now?" Ranma demanded of her father. "If she finds out about this," Ranma said, pointing to her chest, "we're done for. And it's all your fault!" Ranma accused.

Genma shrugged. "There's a simple solution to this." Genma declared.

Ranma glanced at him. "Oh yeah, what's that?" Ranma asked. Genma smirked and splashed himself with a bucket of water.

'Don't let her find out!' Genma's sign declared, which earned him a whap on the head.

"Oh, Ran-ko!" Akane yelled. Ranma glanced at the panda and left.

"What is it?" Ranma asked. Akane grabbed his arm and dragged her outside. "Hey, what gives?" Ranma demanded.

"Oh, do you want to come along too, Ranko?" Nodoka asked him. Ranma paused as he realized what Akane wanted.

"Oh, um, yes I do, Mrs. Saotome," Ranma said. She tilted her head and whispered to Akane, "What are we doing?"

Akane whispered back, "Getting stuff for dinner. Come on. You can't be with her as a guy… I can understand that. But at least you could get to know her, beyond the whole seppuku deal anyway."

"So, are you a friend of Akane?" Makoto asked curiously as they trudged through the rain. They all had umbrellas, keeping them from getting wet.

"No, I'm Akane's… first cousin!" Ranma exclaimed triumphantly.

"Ranma's been living at your place, right Akane?" Nodoka asked her, to which she nodded. "Can you tell me anything about him? Makoto hadn't seen him for a while, but I'm sure you know a lot about him." Nodoka said to Akane.

"Err, I suppose," Akane said hesitantly.

Nodoka grinned and asked, "Is he manly? Handsome? Well groomed?"

Akane glanced at Ranma, who scowled back at her. "Um, yes, yes, and yes." Akane said slowly. Ranma's face cleared up of the scowl that had dominated it.

While Nodoka snagged Akane and started rapidly firing off questions, Makoto hung back and started walking along side Ranma. Ranma glanced at her nervously, but Makoto didn't seem to suspect anything.

After a minute of trudging through the rain and listening to Nodoka's increasingly embarrassing questions to Akane, Ranma began, "So…" but was interrupted by Makoto.

"You know?" Makoto asked. "I feel like the odd one out here. I mean, I brought Mrs. Saotome here to meet Ranma… but I don't really belong here. I'm not a fiancée or related to him or anything," Makoto muttered.

"Hey, it's not so bad. I only arrived a couple days ago… to visit." Ranma said, trying to cheer her once girlfriend up. "I feel out of place too." Although it wasn't for the reason mentioned. 'I still can't deal with the fact that I have a mother, and she is here.' Ranma thought to herself.

Makoto smiled. "I guess you do know the feeling," She said. "Once we're done here, I'll have to come back in a few days and see if Ranma is around."

"By the way, that cake you made was delicious." Ranma said, trying to change the subject.

Makoto glanced at Ranma. "Really? Well, Mrs. Saotome helped. That's probably the best cake I've ever tasted as well." The silence stretched on again. In that time, Nodoka fired off another question to Akane that had her blushing. Ranma shuddered and was glad she couldn't hear it.   
-------------------------------------------  
"Do you understand what you must do?" A voice echoed through an area of complete darkness.

A male voice responded, "Yes, Zandain. I understand."

"Good. Failure will be tolerated on this first mission, but only because we need to test out the modifications to the gatherers. There is but one more thing for me to tell you," The female voice said.

The male voice sounded confused. "What is that, Zandain?"

With a hint of amusement, the female voice said, "Soul Fire is a terrible name. You really should have picked a better one."

The male voice returned, "I think not. I like this name. After all, if I'm going to have a name, I think it should be one I prefer."

"Very well. Now go out and see what you can do… I'll be out there not too long after. Be sure to tell me when you've engaged all of the targets," The female voice said.

"Of course, Zandain." The male voice said, and then was silent.

END Chapter 7


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own any Ranma ½ or Sailor moon characters. They belong to their respective owners.

Thanks to prereader, Ranger5! And everyone at Fukufics!

Ranma and Akane stood under the overhang, watching the rain drip down, exploding in even smaller droplets when they reached the ground. Both Nodoka and Makoto were in the store, intentlyhunting down the ingredients for dinner. Ranma wasn't really that good of a cook, having had most of his actual cookingexperience with camp food, and had opted not to go inside. Akane had wanted to go, but felt that she needed to stay with Ranma. A decision that would make the rest of the Tendos very happy, if they had known about it.

"Your mother seems to really like her," Akane observed impassively as she glanced furtivelythrough the window to see Nodoka and Makoto talking animatedly, probably about some kind of ingredient or other, but regardless of the topic obviously enjoying each other's company. She felt only a slight twinge of jealousy that Makoto probably knew what she was talking about. The last time Akane had cooked something, she had destroyed the kitchen and, to top things off, gotten attacked and had her energy drained. For once, she didn't feel like trying to cook anything.

Ranko shrugged. "Common interests? I dunno." Ranko said. "It feels like she is someone else's mom, not mine. I mean, shouldn't I be in there with her? But I'm standing right out here," Ranko said, feeling confused.

"That's probably because you didn't want to get in the way of their animated girl talk earlier, and haven't gathered up the courage to go near them since." Akane muttered.

"What'd you say?" Ranko asked. Akane swiftly shook her head, indicating that she hadn't said anything.

"Well, it seems like your old girlfriend is here to stay. You're probably happy." Akane said with a preppy voice. Ranko glared at her.

"Why do you always do that?" Ranko demanded. Akane glanced at Ranko, a question in her eyes. "You know. You act all sugary sweet when someone new comes after me, then try to beat me to a pulp."

Akane glared at him. "What are you implying?" She asked in a scathing voice, to which Ranko smirked.

"I think you're jealous." Ranko taunted. Akane growled at her, but before she could do or sayanything else, both Nodoka and Makoto came out of the store.

"Well, we got the food. Let's head home now." Makoto said, hopefully, to which Nodoka shook her head.

"Why head home now? We've barely just arrived!" Nodoka declared.

Ranko asked, "Err, but it IS going to be dinner time soon. Don't you need time to prepare the meal?"

Nodoka smiled. "Of course. I'm sure they won't mind it being delayed, though. After all, I'm sure they won't mind if I got to know all the young girls interested in my son. I have to get everything set up for him for the day I can finally meet him."

Ranko cleared her throat. "I'm not interested in him. Can we go home now?" She asked plaintively. She didn't know how to handle her mother, and it was getting rather cold. While her years on the road may have inured her to physical discomfort, why put up with it when a warm home waited?

Nodoka responded by patting Ranko's head and saying, "I'm sure you won't hold out long against his charm. My son must be so manly!"

Makoto grimaced and whispered to Akane, "She hasn't even met him yet! How does she know he has charm?"

Akane whispered back, "It's probably a mother thing. The ability to believe in their child, no matter how much of a jerk they might be." Makoto blinked at her in response.

Ranko herself had responded to Nodoka's comment with a simple, "Gah?" Nodoka smirked at Ranko and held an umbrella over her head, blocking out the heavy raindrops. Over the soft pattering, Nodoka continued, "Well, let's get going. We can fit some more shopping in before everyone at the dojo starts clamoring for food. I have some money left, so how about I treat you all to some ice cream?" Nodoka asked.

Instantly, thoughts of anxiety, cold, and everything else left Ranko's mind at those words. "Ice cream?" Ranko asked, eyes alight with an almost vampiric hunger.

Nodoka nodded. "I can see you don't exactly mind the idea. How about you other girls?" Nodoka asked. They both stared at Ranko, who looked like she was ready to tear apart anyone who disagreed, and nodded quickly.

"You eat like Ranma." Makoto accused as she observed the speeds at which Ranko was devouring the ice cream, seemingly able to ignore the splitting pain that came from too much cold food too fast. Her hands were almost a blur, and only a mind trained watching Usagi do the exact same thing could have caught all those movements.

Ranko's arm stopped in its tracks, flinging a spoonful of ice cream straight into her face. "What?" Ranko asked as she quickly grabbed a napkin and started wiping the big, oozing glob off of her face.

Akane smirked. "What she means is that you're both bottomless pits, have no manners, and can't help but steal everyone else's ice cream." Akane said, although she meant the last one as a joke. That, however, was before she saw Ranko's spoon guiltily thrust into her own sundae. "Ran…ko." Akane growled, fiercely protective of her ice cream. Ranko quickly withdraw her spoon with a guilty grin.

"Hey, I hadn't taken any yet… at least not much." Ranko said the last part very softly… but not quite softly enough for Akane to miss.

"Now, now." Nodoka stopped the feud. She glanced at Ranko's face, which still bore faint traces of a tasty dairy product. "You really should act more like a lady, though." Nodoka said, appraising Ranko, who nearly shrank back from the scrutiny.

Makoto silently ate her ice cream. 'Heh, those two really are family. And Mrs. Saotome certainly seems keen on getting in on the act.' Makoto was halfway tempted to head home. Ranma wasn't here, and instead she was with someone who could be marrying Ranma. Still, she felt a kind of duty to stick around with Nodoka longer. She WAS Ranma's mother, and had been alone for a long time. Although, Nodoka's actions were starting to make Makoto wonder just what it was that she wanted. Makoto couldn't tell if she really meant what she said, because it was starting to seem to her as if Ranma marrying everybody would be the best course of action. And then, of course, the most surreal part. 'If she really means everything, then what's up with that contract?' Makoto couldn't for the life of her figure out how someone as nice as Mrs. Saotome could hold her own child to something like that.

"So where should we head next?" Nodoka asked the red haired girl, who had easily managed to absorb the ice cream like a sponge, and was eyeing Akane's with the gleam of fascination. Akane held on to the bowl with one hand, moving it back and forth, and watching as Ranko's head followed it much like a snake following a flute.

"Home?" Ranko said dubiously, letting the hypnotism of tasty treats fade away, she returned to the problem at hand. The ice cream was a nice plus, but it didn't really fill her up. She wanted food that she could stuff down and gorge on… and probably be told how unladylike it was, if she had any feel for her mother's character.

"Nonsense," Nodoka said, dismissing Ranko, as she expected. "There's still so much to do. I haven't been out on the town in a long time, and I'm sure no one really cares that much about the food at the dojo."

"Food…" Ranko said plaintively as the group was hustled out of the ice cream parlor by the older woman. 'Wonder what pops is doing back at home? I'm sure he DOES care.' Ranko smirked viciously.

It should be noted that the panda known as Genma couldn't really care less about food at this time. Not when there was something more important at stake. Namely, his belly, the most precious part of his body, and keeping it whole and unpunctured.

"Saotome! I'm not cleaning up this mess!" Soun declared, pointing down at the pile of panda claw clippings.

The source of those clippings was a very nervous panda that was wondering just how Ranma had gone with his mother without himself noticing. All sorts of horrible thoughts ran through his mind, most of them involving a sharp weapon of some kind. Unconsciously, the chewing of his panda claws doubled.

"Saotome! That's it, I'm getting a broom!"

Ranko shivered. The wind was blowing the rain straight into her face, unblocked by the umbrellas. The sun was starting to set, although it wasn't visible. Lines of people walked everywhere, forced into the rain by their need to go places. Now was the time when they headed home, and so the wet streets were flooded with people, many of them cursing the cold rain.

"Mrs. Saotome, I really think we should be heading home now." Makoto said, the chill starting to drench her. Where there had been warm rain, there was now cold rain. Each individual drop raised goosebumps along the parts of her body unprotected by an umbrella. Makoto shivered, wondering if the ice cream was trying to devour her from within. She glanced down at her uniform, and shook her head despairingly. Oh, the humanity!

Nodoka pursed her lips. She still longed to personally celebrate finding the trail of her son, but Ranko's dull listless eyes, and emaciated expression were starting to make a point. 'I've got to find out how she can manage that.' Nodoka thought, seeing Ranko put on her best hungry and cold face. Well, there was a point. Dinner wasn't going to cook itself. "Yes, I think we've been out enough," she decided. "Let's head back to the dojo."

"Finally!" Ranko whispered, wondering why her mother had taken so long to see the light. Ranko had already decided that her mother was very weird, and not just a little two-faced. The seppuku contract was jarring with someone who appeared to be a very nice person. Ranko wasn't entirely sure what prompted it, but was somewhat glad that it was actually raining, as there was almost no chance of getting caught by hot water. 'I'll get to the bottom of this… after I've eaten, and get warm, and sleep, and-'

"You shouldn't be so happy." Akane admonished, breaking Ranko's train of that, before shivering. "But it is getting cold."

Makoto nodded. "Let's get a warm dinner prepared, and get out of this rain," Makoto agreed.

"I suppose it's settled." Nodoka said. She angled the umbrella forward, keeping a firm hand on some of the food supplies they had bought. "Already buying new groceries, and the day isn't even out." Nodoka said, mostly to herself. She moved the umbrella slightly, letting her see the sky. 'It certainly LOOKS like the day is out, though.'

As Nodoka forged into the lead, Makoto fell back. "So, what hobbies do you have?" Makoto asked as they started to head towards the dojo, gratefulfor a chance to get to know the other two. She hadn't gotten a chance to really talk to Akane the last time they met, and the red haired girl was a mystery.

"Well, I'm a martial artist." Ranko said dubiously, worried that a small amount of information could doom her.

"Oh. Seems to be a lot of them out here." Makoto guessed. Mentally, she amended, 'Or at least a large collection of very skilled ones.'

"Yeah, that's just our part of the district's thing. Where other districts have demons, magical girls, giant monsters, Godzilla… we've got martial artists everywhere." Akane said.

Makoto turned her head towards her. "You're a martial artist too, right?" As if she had to ask.

Akane nodded and unconsciously puffed up. "That's right! I'm the heir to the Tendo School of Martial arts!" Akane exclaimed.

"Maybe we should spar sometime. I wouldn't mind learning some more martial arts. I haven't really had time to train lately." Makoto said.

"Why not?" Ranko asked, curiously. Makoto had trained constantly back when Ranko had known her. Not nearly as much as Ranko had trained, but still a goodly amount.

"Well, I've had school and… stuff." Makoto hedged, to which Ranko was stunned speechless. The only thing Makoto cared about in school had been Ranma… to find out that she had apparently become a studious schoolgirl shocked the redhead into silence.

"School…is good, I guess." Ranko said, flabbergasted.

Soul Fire crouched on one of the larger buildings of the Nerima ward, his eyes misty and lacking pupils as he stared down at a section of the road. The area was mostly clear, although a few stragglers moved through on their ways home. S.F. ignored them, his eyes viewing below the surface of the road, his attention taken up by a realm below the visible.

"What's she thinking, calling my name stupid." Soul Fire grumbled to himself as he caused several thin rods of magical metal to form beneath the surface. "It's mine. She won't ever say it, anyway. What does it matter?" Soul Fire held a finger up, a shining blue glow appearing and dispersing almost immediately. The rain tumbling down onto his head suddenly seemed to be shunted aside, and couldn't touch him. He grimaced as he looked up into the sky. "This… can't be good."

As he waved his hands, several more uniform rods of metal appeared underground. The rain would force him to change tactics, but it was manageable. The problem was that he didn't even know if he could summon his enemies in the rain. Getting away with energy wasn't the point of this exercise, and he'd be sorely disappointed if he couldn't test out the new weapon. Although… perhaps there was some more benefit to be gained from this.

"So, when will Ranma be back?" Nodoka asked again. Left to think in the rain, her mind kept returning again and again to the same thing.

Ranko rubbed her eyes. The question never ceased. Before she could answer again, Nodoka held up a hand to forestall it. "Sorry… it's just, I can't wait to see him again. Forgive me."

"Um, sure." Ranko replied, wondering when this crazy day would be over. 'I'll get some food, get warm, and figure this stuff out some other time.'

"You WILL be able to stay for dinner, right Mako-chan?" Nodoka asked. Seeing her nod, Nodoka smiled. "This day is almost perfect!"

Ranko didn't feel it was even close, but maybe she'd change her opinion later. Or, maybe not, as a pillar of red light shot into the sky.

"What was that?" Nodoka demanded, staring at where the shaft of red light touched the heavens.

"I don't know… but you need to get to safety!" Ranko commanded. Seeing Nodoka's questioning look, Ranko shook her head. "I don't have time to explain… just get to safety! All of you!" So saying, Ranko tore through the streets towards the origin of the light.

"Come on Mrs. Saotome, Ma-" Akane paused. Makoto had completely disappeared. "Oh no…" Akane grabbed Nodoka's arm and started to drag. Unwillingly, Nodoka let herself be pulled along.

"Do they never stop?" Ranko demanded as she pelted through the slick streets. "You'd think the last experience would have held him back longer than this!" As she cleared the final row of buildings, Ranko screeched to a stop. Rather than the expected presence of a monster, or Elion, there was a metal pole stuck in the ground, a shining light at its tip. The beam of light originated from the pole.

"What is it?" Ranma spun towards the voice. Sailor Jupiter was staring at the pole with puzzlement on her face. Definitely evil senses. Or a really high top speed.

"I don't know… but it doesn't seem harmful…" Ranko said, dubiously. Her forehead scrunched as she tried to figure out what the pole was doing, just sitting there.

"Well, I'll handle it, you should get out of here." Jupiter commanded, to which Ranko shook her head in denial.

"I'm a lot stronger than you think." Ranko said, aware of the fact that Jupiter had no idea she was really Ranma. And, judging by the rain, she wouldn't be finding out today, either.

As they conversed, the light seemed to shrink downward, and disappeared. In its place, a blue light appeared, radiating outward. However, before it got too far, it began to spin around the rod. Four other rods burst from the ground, surrounding the first. Lightning began to crackle along their tips.

"What's going on?" Jupiter asked.

"I don't know, but I don't think we should wait to find out. They're bursting through pavement…" Ranko noticed.

"What should we do?" Jupiter asked, noticing the spikes of lightning jumping from the tips of the rods through the rain. "I don't think I should try any of my attacks… I don't really want to fry myself."

"Yeah, I don't think it'd be a good idea." Ranko agreed. "I guess I'll just have to-" The four outer poles suddenly flashed, bolts of lightning arcing through the air towards the center pole. "-say, 'Ah, crap,'" Ranko finished.

As the power moved between the poles, the pavement began to crack and break, chunks of it starting to rise up and fly out of the way. As the pavement disappeared, the dirt beneath began to rise up as well, becoming soaked in the rain, and floating over to the central pole. Large holes began to form in the ground as the dirt was transferred, starting to form a large ball of mud.

"This scene has everything, except a distinct lack of a maniacal villain," Ranko muttered. Louder, she shouted to Jupiter, "We should-"

"Slow it down!" Jupiter interrupted. "My teammates will be here soon, and their attacks aren't neutralized by the rain as much as mine."

"There's that." Ranko agreed. With a sigh, she straightened up to observe the process that was occurring. Ranko wasn't even sure if it could be stopped at this point, anyway.

"Look, I can't order you to leave… but will you promise to leave if things get too tough?" Jupiter asked.

Ranko shrugged. "Sure." Ranko didn't plan for things to get that far… if they did, then the Senshi had probably better bail as well. Idly, she wondered if Jupiter would have told Ranma that. After a moment of consideration, Ranko decided no. The senshi should be well aware of how capable Ranma was at this point. Ranko pointed. "We may both have to leave anyway."

Glittering, rainbow hued light shot through the mud, from where it dwelt inside. As the ball closed up and grew, almost vein like streams of energy began to pulse along its surface. As the two watched, arms and legs grew, simple structures that housed all the form required. The ball lengthened, becoming more ovular, the top forming into a head.

"It's a monster made of mud." Jupiter said, making a face. Ranko, while agreeing, was trying to analyze this new approach.

The mud monster began to move forward ponderously, each foot pushing it forward a great amount, but taking a long time to occur. The monster's movements were slow and halting, but it continued to grow as it moved, large pits of emptiness appearing in the ground.

"I don't like this." Ranko stated. "It's slow and massive, but it's made of mud. Lemme tell you, I've fought mud before, and you can't win. At the end of the day, the mud's still there, and has you completely surrounded," Ranko paused, thinking hard. "Although, do baths count as victory?"

"What are you saying?" Jupiter asked. "Shouldn't we be more worried about actually fighting it, and leave this mud stuff for later? Where did that even come from?" Jupiter waved her arms wildly.

"That's just the thing… we can't fight it. It's in its element." Ranko said. She pointed to the monster tromping towards them as it ignored incidentals, such large poles sticking up from the ground. As the monster moved over them, they sliced through, but the mud just covered the hole.

"You're… giving up?" Jupiter asked, shocked.

Ranko shook her head. "No, just telling you to MOVE!" The monster, seizing upon their distraction, had raised and was dropping a massive fist. As Ranko leapt out of the way, she circled the monster, heading behind it. "Keep it distracted! The easiest thing to do is wait!"

"Easy for you to say!" Jupiter shouted as she moved out of the way of another strike. "What are we waiting for?"

Ranko rolled her eyes. "Your teammates, remember? This'll be way easier with them around… it'd be way too annoying to have to do ourselves." Having said that, Ranko spun and ran towards the metal poles. Although they still glowed with energy, raw lightning wasn't crackling atop the tips. Instead, they each channeled small streams of energy to the monster. A stream of energy that, Ranko noticed, wasn't nearly as intense as before. As Ranko pulled back a fist to strike one, it pulled underground. Behind her, a pole burst through the ground nearby the monster, and began to channel a stream of energy towards the monster, almost completely uninterrupted.

Ranko narrowed her eyes and struck at another pole. It, too, pulled underground, while another one rose near the monster. "That can't be right…" Ranko muttered to herself as she scanned the buildings. Through the rain and darkness, Ranko thought she could barely see the outline of a figure, intently observing the one sided battle. 'We'll have to deal with whoever is up there… but I'd rather not let the monster rampage around while I deal with him.'

Ranko glanced back. Sailor Jupiter was panting, the monster having completely ignored Ranko's movements and focused on Jupiter. Ranko cracked her knuckles. 'If it's made of the same stuff as the other monsters we've faced, it should be vulnerable to an emotion based energy attack. Ranko began to run towards the monster, her hands starting to glow with energy. Somehow warned, the monster's body began to turn

"HYAH!" Ranko cried out, thrusting her hand forward and unleashing the Open Palm Prismatic Blow. The energy coiled on her hands rocketed forward, blowing through the monster's body. Now lacking a leg and part of its body, the monster collapsed on its side. However, it was not destroyed, and Ranko felt her volition fade, her eyes going glassy as her body entered a short hibernation period.

With a roar, the monster began to recuperate, its leg and missing body part reforming. Ranko stared at it, her eyes blank. As it began to raise a fist, a green blur shot by. Jupiter grabbed Ranko, and leapt out of the way as a fist struck the ground through the blur. Small globs of mud flung everywhere as Jupiter said, "You okay?"

Ranko's eyes refocused as she shook her head to clear it. "Yeah, I'm okay… just tired." As Jupiter set her down, she glanced at the monster, which was now heading straight for them again. "It didn't work," Ranko muttered.

"No." Jupiter agreed. "What was that? That looked a lot like Ranma's attack…"

"He, uh, taught it to me. Your friends here yet?" Ranko said, quickly changing the subject.

Jupiter frowned. "They should have been here by now. See if you can keep that monster occupied. I'll find out."

"Easy for you to say." Ranko mimicked, setting her sights back on her foe. "I REALLY don't want to have to fight you myself." Ranko told it. The monster seemed to care not at all, and answered with another giant muddy fist. Ranko countered by running behind it again. It moved slowly, and it'd be easy to stay out of its reach.

Or so Ranko thought, until she almost got bowled over by a giant ball of mud. "That's playing dirty!" Ranko shouted at it, fighting the urge to groan.

"There's been a problem!" Jupiter shouted, reentering the fight. "There was an attack in the Juuban area."

Ranko's eyes widened. "A two pronged attack?" She asked. She evaded another ball of mud and ran around the monster again. Idly, she wondered if it was getting frustrated yet.

Jupiter shook her head. "No, we think this fight was meant as a distraction, but somewhere, something went wrong. Anyways, they decided to split up. Mars and Venus are on their way."

Ranko took a deep breath. "Could be worse." Ranko muttered. "Could have sent Moon and Venus. Then we'd be toast."

"Is something wrong?" Jupiter asked, concerned.

"Nah, we didn't know what we were facing when you called them." Ranko said. They both backpedaled, staying out of range of the monstrosity that assailed them. It screamed in frustration, and hurled several more balls of mud, which Ranko and Jupiter both avoided by splitting up.

"You know… isn't this fight a little… pointless?" Jupiter asked as the two of them ran behind the monster.

"You mean, in the sense that it can't hurt us very well and we can't hurt it, so all we do is move around a lot? Yeah, I'm aware of that." Ranko replied.

"Hey guys, we're… AGH!" They both turned their heads to see Sailor Mars staring at their foe. Venus stood behind her, her expression one of shock. "You're kidding, right?"

Ranko and Jupiter both scrambled away from the mud monster, which stubbornly began to hurl large globs of mud at anything it could see. Distracted as they were, they failed to notice another pole rise up from the ground. Streams of vibrant energy seemed to form like a rainbow around it, flowing in from some outside source.

"Don't just stand there! Torch it! There isn't anything else that we can do! Not without needing a real big bath afterwards!" Ranko shouted as she backflipped away from a backhanded fist. Nearby, Jupiter stopped to catch her breath as the monster ignored her for a moment.

"Uh, right. Fire Soul!" Mars shouted as she held her hands together, launching a powerful stream of flame at the monster. It screamed as the burning flames washed over its body, but kept moving, the fire seeming to do nothing but cause it pain. "It's not working!"

"Crescent Beam Shower!" Venus yelled as she shot a beam of light over the monster, waves of energy crashing down around it. It howled, but the beams passed through it, the holes it created sealing up almost immediately.

"The rain feeds it!" Jupiter exclaimed.

"Exactly! Not only that, but it thwarts our fire based attack." Ranko replied. As she looked around the area for some other means of attack, she said, "You should have sent Mercury."

Mars scowled. "Well, excuse us. No one ever told us we were fighting a giant mud monster!"

"She has a point." Jupiter pointed out. Ranko scowled, and Jupiter blushed. Maybe she should have figured out what they were fighting before asking for help.

"Why are you fighting, anyway?" Venus asked. "Shouldn't you be at home or something?"

"Well…" Ranko paused. "Mars, blast that thing with as much fire as you can. I'm going to start tearing it up!" Ranko both commanded, and changed subject, at the same time. She hurtled herself toward the monster, her confidence in her ability to at least rip it apart a couple times causing her fists to glow blue.

Mars shrugged and placed her hands together, unleashing another stream of fire. As Ranko prepared to launch a blast of energy, something odd happened. The rain stopped.

Or at least, it was halted. Ranko glanced upwards. The rain seemed to be falling against an invisible barrier, no longer reaching the monster. As Mars' torrent of fire reached the monster, it no longer screamed. It just sat there, taking the fire. As its body began to crumple, steam poured out, bathing Ranko with heated water… something she, now he, hadn't particularly wanted to be hit with.

"We got it!" Mars exclaimed, keeping up the heat. Jupiter, however, stared as Ranko leapt out of the steam and out of the area covered by the strange shield, into the rain. For just a second, Jupiter could have sworn that her hair had been black, and she had been taller than normal. Jupiter frowned. Something weird was going on… A suspicion was beginning to form in the back of her mind, although the rational part was telling her that she was being silly, and that it was impossible.

Having lost the moisture holding it together, and the energy sustaining it having inexplicably ceased, the monster began to fall apart, its body collapsing into dust and dirt. However, the metal pole that made its core was still floating there… and the fire from Mars' Fire Soul was wrapping around it.

As soon as she saw that, Mars ceased her attack, but it was too late. Wrapped in the flames of the Fire Soul, flames that would not go out, the rod shot skyward, disappearing from view. Another rod, having gone unnoticed by them until now, shot skyward as well. Ranko could see, with dismay, some suspiciously familiar energy lining it as it vanished. The four supporting rods, however, instead fell to dust, rusting over then disintegrating.

To top it all over, the barrier holding the rain at bay vanished, getting them all soaked again. The three senshi and Ranko stared at what appeared to have been a theft of their attacks.

"I think we got played." Venus murmured finally.

Mars shook her head. "Venus that's… oh, never mind. It fits enough anyway."

Jupiter nodded. "This seems very… staged." She turned her head to talk to Ranko, but found her to be missing. Jupiter frowned. That cut her time considerably. Although… "Ack!" Jupiter exclaimed as she looked at her communicator. But… "Can you guys find out how things went? I've got a dinner to attend." So saying, Jupiter took off, leaving the other two Senshi to stare after her in befuddlement.

They both shrugged at each other, while Mars activated her communicator. "Usagi, you there?"

"_Yeah, I'm here… we won."_ Usagi's voice responded. It sounded… sour?

"You don't sound very happy about that." Mars observed.

"_Our enemy didn't really seem prepared for a fight. She drew out the energy of a bunch of little girls. The monster that formed was too cute for even me." _Usagi's voice said, annoyed. It then brightened considerably as it said, _"On the other hand, it was a pushover. Haven't had one of those in a while!"_

"Sorry I'm late." Makoto said as Akane opened the entrance to the Tendo home. "I ran to get the police. Everything turn out okay?"

Akane nodded. "Yeah… although you didn't need to… Ranko said that the Sailor Senshi took care of it. I doubt the police could have done anything about it anyway."

"You're probably right," Makoto agreed, making a mental note to figure out how Ranko managed to do the same things that Ranma did. She was beginning to have a sneaking suspicion, but her mind refused to bring it out into the open just yet.

"Come on, the food's ready… Ranko's chomping at the bit. You don't want to see her when she's held away from food too long." Akane said, waving Makoto inside.

"Sorry I made you wait," Makoto apologized as she bowed.

Nodoka ushered her over to the table. "Nonsense! We could afford to wait for you, since you went and did something like get the police."

As they dug into the food, Makoto eyed Ranko. She hadn't really paid much attention to her before, but there was something disturbingly familiar about the way she looked. She looked nothing like the other Tendos. Even if she was a cousin, Makoto expected a little more similarity. And the way she ate…

"Something on my face?" Ranko asked, getting nervous from the obvious stare directed at her.

"Yes," Makoto said, pointing at Ranko.

Ranko blushed as she wiped it off. "Oh." Was all she said before she continued her mad spree to finish as much food as she could, as quick as she could.

Makoto frowned from behind her bowl. The sneaking suspicion was starting to grow. And from someone who had seen as much magic as she had, it wasn't entirely impossible…

"You had better have a VERY good explanation for this." Zandain said coldly, sparks arcing along her fingers. The darkness of the void receded as the light was brought into being, revealing an area that may have at one time resembled an apartment.

"For what?" Soul Fire asked. He waved his hand, black astral matter forming itself into a couch. He fell back on it, making himself comfortable. "My plan went off without a hitch. What are you complaining about?"

Zandain snarled, "It was my plan, and you triggered the signal too early. I was unprepared for what I had to face."

"And that is somehow my fault?" Soul Fire asked icily. "Preparedness is a way of life to me. If you weren't prepared, you had no business in attempting this. After all, you could have simply waited before acting, instead of immediately leaping into motion after you received my signal, right?" Soul Fire waved a hand, soft music beginning to play, sound coming in from nowhere.

Electric sparks flared along Zandain's body, revealing the star and planet decorated gown she wore. "Are you asking to be obliterated?" She said, her voice almost aflame.

Soul Fire shook his head sadly. "You aren't usually this easy to rile." He raised a hand to forestall whatever explosion that was about to come from Zandain's mouth. "Even if your task failed, what I have accomplished more than makes up for it."

Zandain suddenly looked wary. "Just what is it you did? Besides test the new gatherer?"

"Besides make you look bad, you mean?" Soul Fire said with a smirk. Teach HER to badmouth his name. "Well, the new gatherer is immune to the energy destruction power of the attack, although they'll still take quite a bit of damage. However…" He snapped his fingers. Two metal rods, one glowing a torrent of rainbow colors, the other one carrying roving fire around its tip, descended from above.

"What are these?" Zandain asked, cautiously raising an arm behind her back, ready to ward off a magical assault.

"I collected the energy from the attacks of two of those girls. I figured you could do something with it."

"You're right…" Zandain said, observing the rods. "But, doesn't this come from the attack the boy used?"

"Well, a girl WAS the one who used it. I guess that means there is two of them?" Soul Fire asked.

Zandain frowned. "We may need to strike with greater force next time then. Very well, I will plan the next course of action. After Elion's bumbling, I'd like to keep this hands on."

As she turned to leave, Soul Fire said, "By the way, I've decided to change my name to Flay Spirit. Remember it." Maybe, just maybe, she'd actually explode…

"FINE!" Zandain shouted as she left. "He's lucky I don't call him moron," she growled to herself.

END CHAPTER 8

AN: Hoo boy, its been ages --

Now I can write other stuff without feeling guilty

So, tell me what you think. It's been a while, so I'm a little rusty, but I hope its good.


End file.
